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ERIC Number: ED262355
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1985-Aug
Pages: 13
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Near-Death Experiences and the "Fantasy-Prone" Personality: Preliminary Findings.
Council, James R.; Greyson, Bruce
Near-death experiences (NDEs) are subjective experiences at the threshold of death which can include strong positive affect, dissociation from the physical body, and paranormal/transcendental phenomena. Empirical investigation of NDEs has typically relied upon retrospective reports and personality studies of individuals who have come close to death (e.g., through accidents, illness, surgical procedures, etc.) and later recovered. Psychological understanding of NDEs has been complicated by the failure of past research to reveal any personality factors consistently related to reporting NDEs. Recently, Wilson and Barber (1983) have suggested that some excellent hypnotic subjects (fantasy-prone personalities) may be more likely to report NDEs than the rest of the population. This hypothesis was investigated in subjects who had: (1) reported prototypical NDEs (N=63); (2) been close to death, but without reporting NDEs (N=28), and (3) never been near death (N=45). Subjects completed the Near-Death Experience Scale; the Memory, Imagining, and Creativity Schedule (MICS); the Absorption Scale; and the Survey of Psi Experiences. Subjects who had never been near death did not complete the NDE scale. The results revealed that the MICS and Absorption Scale were highly correlated and that both measures were significantly correlated with NDE Scale scores. Analysis of variance revealed that the group reporting NDEs scored significantly higher on the MICS than either comparison group, and NDE reporters' scores on the Absorption and PSI scales were higher than those of the never near death group. These results lend partial support to the hypothesis that fantasy-prone personalities may be more likely to report NDEs than the general population. (NRB)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Researchers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A