Frontiers in Psychology
July 15, 2022
Alexandre Augusto de Deus Pontual, Alexandre Augusto de Deus Pontual, Luís Fernando Tófoli et al.
27 citations
Setting characteristics—social context, comfort, infrastructure, and decoration—moderate the intensity of challenging experiences during ayahuasca ceremonies, explaining 41% of the variance in challenging experience ratings across three traditions (União do Vegetal, Santo Daime, and neo-shamanic groups). Mystical experiences were less strongly associated with setting, with leadership and comfort explaining only 14% of the variance. Social context was rated highest among União do Vegetal members. In neo-shamanic groups, infrastructure, comfort, and decoration correlated more consistently with mystical experiences than in the other traditions. Maximizing setting quality reduces the likelihood of challenging experiences and modestly supports mystical experiences.
Frontiers in Psychology
July 15, 2022
Alexandre Augusto de Deus Pontual, Alexandre Augusto de Deus Pontual, Luís Fernando Tófoli et al.
27 citations
Setting characteristics—social context, comfort, infrastructure, and decoration—moderate the intensity of challenging experiences during ayahuasca ceremonies, explaining 41% of the variance in challenging experience ratings across three traditions (União do Vegetal, Santo Daime, and neo-shamanic groups). Mystical experiences were less strongly associated with setting, with leadership and comfort explaining only 14% of the variance. Social context was rated highest among União do Vegetal members. In neo-shamanic groups, infrastructure, comfort, and decoration correlated more consistently with mystical experiences than in the other traditions. Maximizing setting quality reduces the likelihood of challenging experiences and modestly supports mystical experiences.
Frontiers in Psychology
June 23, 2021
Alexandre Augusto de Deus Pontual, Luís Fernando Tófoli, Carlos Fernando Collares et al.
14 citations
A new questionnaire, the Setting Questionnaire for the Ayahuasca Experience (SQAE), measures the physical and social context in which ayahuasca is consumed. Developed from a literature review, interviews with 19 users, and a survey of 2,994 participants, the scale's structure was tested using exploratory graph analysis and multidimensional item response theory. Six dimensions emerged—Leadership, Decoration, Infrastructure, Comfort, Instruction, and Social—though the original theoretical model fit the data better than the exploratory model. The instrument shows evidence of validity and can support future research on how setting influences the ayahuasca experience, with potential applications for studying psychedelic use more broadly.
May 17, 2021
Alexandre Augusto de Deus Pontual
A new measurement scale for the social and physical context (setting) of ayahuasca use was developed and validated. Through a literature review and interviews with 19 users from diverse backgrounds, five themes and 15 subthemes were identified, leading to six factors: Leadership, Decoration, Infrastructure, Comfort, Instruction, and Social. After expert review and an online questionnaire, confirmatory factor analysis supported a theoretical model with 29 items, showing good fit. The instrument provides a tool for investigating how setting influences ayahuasca experiences and may extend to research on other psychedelics.