‘I Get High With a Little Help From My Friends’ - How Raves Can Invoke Identity Fusion and Lasting Co-operation via Transformative Experiences

Engaging in the '4Ds'—dance, drums, sleep deprivation, and drugs—at raves and illegal free parties is associated with personal transformation when the experience is awe-inspiring, particularly for people with open personalities. Without awe or a ritual context, the 4Ds are linked to a lack of personal growth or anomie. A structural equation model showed that personal transformation following awe-inspiring raves was associated with bonding to other ravers and prosocial behavior toward that group at a cost to self, but not with bonding to humanity. The findings suggest that the 4Ds in a ritualized environment can help build meaningful social bonds with positive behavioral outcomes.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Psychoactive drugs have been central to many human group rituals throughout modern human evolution. Despite such experiences often being inherently social, bonding and associated prosocial behaviors have rarely been empirically tested as an outcome. Here we investigate a novel measure of the mechanisms that generate altered states of consciousness during group rituals, the 4Ds: d ance, d rums, sleep d eprivation, and d rugs. We conducted a retrospective online survey examining experiences at a highly ritualized cultural phenomenon where drug use is relatively uninhibited- raves and illegal free parties. Engaging in the 4Ds at raves or free parties was associated with personal transformation for those who experienced the event as awe-inspiring, especially for people with open personalities ( n = 481). Without awe, or a ritual context, indulging in the 4Ds was associated with a lack of personal growth, or anomie . A complex SEM revealed that personal transformation following awe-inspiring raves was associated with bonding to other ravers and prosocial behavior toward this group at a cost to self in a simple economic game. Bonding to humanity was not associated with these events. The findings suggest that employing the 4Ds in a ritualized environment - particularly dancing and drug use – can help build meaningful social bonds with associated positive behavioral outcomes.