Examining changes in personality following shamanic ceremonial use of ayahuasca.
Sci Rep March 23, 2021 Brandon Weiss, Joshua D. Miller, Nathan T. Carter et al. 80 citations
A study of 256 participants from three ayahuasca healing centers in South and Central America examined changes in the Five-Factor personality traits after ceremonial use of the psychedelic brew. The largest change was a large reduction in Neuroticism, observed in both self-reports and informant reports, with effect sizes ranging from −0.62 to −1.00 across timepoints. Baseline personality, acute experiences during the ceremony, and purging experiences moderated the degree of personality change. The findings suggest that ceremonial ayahuasca use is associated with substantial decreases in emotional instability.