Classic Psychedelics and Human–Animal Relations
Elin Pöllänen, Walter Osika, Otto Simonsson, Cecilia U. D. Stenfors
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health July 1, 2022 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19138114 via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractPeople who have used classic psychedelics tend to report less speciesism and more solidarity with animals, though no link was found with their desire to help animals. Among those who used psychedelics, stronger ego dissolution during their most intense experience was associated with less speciesism, more animal solidarity, and a greater desire to help animals. These associations come from a large US-representative sample of 2,822 adults. The authors caution that the findings do not demonstrate causality and call for longitudinal studies to explore whether psychedelic use directly influences human–animal relations.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey Longitudinal Preregistered Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 2,822 |
| Population | US adult population representative by age, sex, and ethnicity |
| Keywords | Solidarity Human animal Ethnic group Social psychology Animal studies |
| Citations | 12 |
| Key finding | Lifetime classic psychedelic use was negatively associated with speciesism and positively associated with animal solidarity, but not with desire to help animals; ego dissolution during the most intense psychedelic experience was negatively associated with speciesism and positively associated with both animal solidarity and desire to help animals. |
Abstract
Previous research has found associations between classic psychedelic use and nature-relatedness, but the link between classic psychedelic use and human–animal relations remains largely unexplored. Using data representative of the US adult population, with regard to age, sex and ethnicity (N = 2822), this pre-registered study assessed lifetime classic psychedelic use, ego dissolution during respondents’ most intense experience using a classic psychedelic, and three measures related to human–animal relations: speciesism, animal solidarity and desire to help animals. The results showed that lifetime classic psychedelic use was negatively associated with speciesism (β = −0.07, p = 0.002), and positively associated with animal solidarity (β = 0.04, p = 0.041), but no association was found with desire to help animals (β = 0.01, p = 0.542). Ego dissolution during the respondents’ most intense experience using a classic psychedelic was negatively associated with speciesism (β = −0.17, p < 0.001), and positively associated with animal solidarity (β = 0.18, p < 0.001) and desire to help animals (β = 0.10, p = 0.007). The findings indicate that classic psychedelics and ego dissolution may have an impact on human–animal relations. As these results cannot demonstrate causality, however, future studies should use longitudinal research designs to further explore the potential causal link between classic psychedelic use and human–animal relations.