Report on Random Post and Web-Based Surveys of Depersonalization, Out-of-Body Experiences, Synaesthesia-Like Experiences and Life Satisfaction
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This document presents two studies examining the relationship between out-of-body experiences (OBEs), depersonalization, and various psychological and perceptual phenomena, utilizing postal and web-based surveys. The results indicate significant differences in demographic characteristics, OBE features, and correlations with hallucination and dream experiences between OBE participants and non-participants. Additionally, logistic regression analyses suggest that specific characteristics of depersonalization can predict OBE group membership.
Report on Random Post and Web-Based Surveys of Depersonalization, Out-of-Body Experiences, Synaesthesia-Like Experiences and Life Satisfaction
- 1. Depersonalization and OBEs: Relationships with Dream, Parapsychological, and Synesthesia Experiences, Life Satisfaction and Hallucinations Nancy L. Zingrone, Ph.D. Carlos S. Alvarado, Ph.D. Natasha Agee, B.A.
- 2. Two Studies • Stratified Random Survey of Charlottesville, VA • 2400 questionnaires mailed • 19% returned undeliverable • 256 usable datasets returned = 13% response rate • Web-based survey, volunteers solicited from transpersonal psychology and parapsychology sites • 667 datasets received • 597 usable Study 1: Postal Study 2: Web
- 3. Objectives: To compare OBErs to Non-OBErs on the following • Scores on the Cambridge Depersonalisation Scale (CDS) • Scores on specific items • Incidence of particular OBE Features in “high” and “low” scorers on the CDS • Relationship between OBEs and depersonalization, hallucination experiences, dream variables, synesthesias and psi exeriences • Scale scores and rates of endorsement by respondents to the Postal Survey and respondents to the Web-based survey
- 4. Demographics • 62.5% Female • 37.5% Male • Mean Age = 49.29 ± 18.70, Range = 17 to 95 • 90.5 % White • 5.1% Black • 2.0% Mixed • 1.6% Asian • .4% Hispanic • .4% Celtic • 64.7% Female • 35.3% Male • Mean Age = 45.27 ± 14.15, Range = 13 to 84 • 87.8% White • 3.7% Hispanic • 2.9% Mixed • 1.7% Asian • 1.4% Black • 1% Indian (South Asia) • .7% Native American • .4% Arabic • .2% Albanian • .2% Sri Lankan Study 1: Postal Sex & Age N = 256 Ethnicity N = 253 Study 2: Web Sex N = 589 / Age N = 587 Ethnicity N = 575
- 5. Demographics • 51.8% Married • 25.1% Single • 11% Divorced • 6.7% Widowed • 5.1% Living together • .3% Separated • 25.2% Masters • 24.8% Bachelors • 15.3% Some college • 7.9% High School • 6.6% Some grad school • 6.2% Doctorates • 14% Other • 43.6% Married • 27.5% Single • 14.4% Divorced • 10.3% Living together • 22.6% Widowed • 1.7% Separated • 27.9% Some college • 24% Bachelors • 13% Masters • 8.8% Doctorates • 7.1% High School • 5.7% Some grad school • 13.5% Other Study 1: Postal Marital Status N = 255 Education N = 242 Study 2: Web Marital Status N = 585 Education N = 509
- 6. Demographics • 68.4% Christian • 12.3% None • 5.7% Agnostic • 4.4% Mixed or Miscellaneous • 3.5% Atheist • 3.1% Buddhist • 2.6% Jewish • 37.4% Christian • 22% Agnostic • 17.1% None • 5% Miscellaneous • 4.3% Pagan • 4.1% Buddhist • 3.7% Mixed • 2.7% Jewish • 2.7% Hindu • 1% Atheist Study 1: Postal N = 228 Study 2: Web N = 486
- 7. Religiousness • 22.9% Not at all • 24.1% Slightly • 34.8% Moderately • 18.2 Very • Range = 0 to 3 • Mean = 1.48±1.04 • 28.8% Not at all • 29.3% Slightly • 29.2% Moderately • 12.7% Very • Range = 0 to 3 • Mean = 1.26±1.01 Study 1: Postal N = 253 Study 2: Web N = 583
- 8. Headaches & Head Injuries • 18.4% never had a headache • 44.5% rarely • 28% occasionally • 7.4% frequently • 1.2% most of the time • 13.7% had suffered a head injury • 9% never had a headache • 48.7% rarely • 18.6% occasionally • 20.2% frequency • 3.5% most of the time • 19.5% had suffered a head injury Study 1: Postal N = 256 Study 2: Web Headache N= 560 Head Injury N = 565
- 9. Main Questionnaires • CDS Scale (Sierra & Berrios, 2000) • Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener et al, 1985) Items we developed • Dream recall, Lucid dreams, Disturbing dreams, Psi Experiences (adapted from Palmer, 1979) • Interference of depersonalization experiences with work, relationships, sense of self • Depersonalization experiences and flourescent lights • Synesthesia of color with sounds or music • Synesthesia of color with letters or numbers Follow-up Questionnaires • Launay-Slade Hallucination Scale (Larøi & Vander Linden, 2005) • Short Form OBE Questionnaire (Alvarado, 1997)
- 10. Representativeness of Postal Sample Stratification held but … Study 1 Census Ethnicity Whites 90.5% 72.3% African Americans 5.1% 20.8% “Other” 4.4% 16.9% Age Age below 18 .4% 18.9% Ages between 18 and 65 76.6% 67.5% Ages above 65 22% 13.6% Sex Males 37.5% 46.9% Females 62.5% 53.1% Education High school degree or better 97.1% 80.8% Baccalaureat degree or better 68.6% 40.8%
- 11. Order Effects OBE frequency – Form A (N = 125) • Mean = .36 – Form B (N = 127) • Mean = .71 • z = 2.38, p = .02 Lucid dreams – Form A (N = 126) • Mean = 1.28 – Form B (N = 127) • Mean = .93 • z = 2.12, p =.03 OBE frequency – Form A (N = 264) • Mean = 1.10 – Form B (N = 260) • Mean = 1.28 • z = 1.88, p = .06 Déjà Vu – Form A (N = 257) • Mean = 1.94 – Form B (N = 263) • Mean = .86 • z = 2.75, p = .006 Study 1: Postal Study 2: Web
- 12. Parapsychological Experiences & Dream Variables Experience N Yes OBEs 253 37.5% Waking ESP 253 50.2% Dream ESP 252 49.2% Apparitions 253 34% Aura 253 10.7% Dream Recall 254 96.9% Disturbing Dreams 252 92.9% Lucid Dreams 254 70.9% Experience N Yes OBEs 524 67.2% Waking ESP 524 84.5% Dream ESP 528 82% Apparitions 528 80.3% Aura 527 54.1% Dream Recall 532 99.4% Disturbing Dreams 531 98.1% Lucid Dreams 530 89.2% Study 1: Postal Study 2: Web Internet respondents reported significantly more of all the above at the p < .0001 level, except dream recall which is p < .004.
- 13. Other Experiences, Headaches & Head Injuries Experience N Yes Déjà Vu 252 82.5% Sense of Oneness 253 58.9% Seeing colors music/sound 254 22.4% letters/numbers 251 13.9% Headache 256 81.6% Head Injury 35 13.7% Experience N Yes Dé jà Vu 520 94.8% Sense of Oneness 527 90.3% Seeing colors music/sound 522 45.8% letters/numbers 525 33.7% Headache 565 91% Head Injury 109 19.5% Study 1: Postal Study 2: Web In all of the above except Head Injury, Web respondents reported significantly more of the experiences at the p < .0001 level. Head Injury was significant at p = .044.
- 14. Scale Scores & Indexes Study 1 : Postal Study 2 : Web N Mean Range N Mean Range CDS* 256 20.13 0-93 591 37.18 0-279 SWLS* 256 25.17 0-35 597 20.39 0-34 LSHS* 43 16.63 0-48 76 35.11 3-63 Psi Index* 256 1.79 0-5 597 3.24 0-5 OBE Feature*** 11 6.91 0-18 61 4.46 0-28 OBE Transformation Score** 11 1.55 0-6 61 3.53 0-8 * p < .0001, ** p = .035, *** = n.s.
- 15. OBE Frequency & CDS Score Study N rs p Postal Respondents 253 .49 <.0001 Web Respondents 524 .37 <.0001
- 16. CDS Scores for OBErs vs Non-OBErs Mean Study N CDS Score z p OBErs Postal 95 31.13 Non-OBErs Postal 158 13.49 6.51 < .0001 OBErs Web 350 47.48 Non-OBErs Web 168 26.49 6.83 < .0001
- 17. SWLS Scores for OBErs vs Non-OBErs Mean SWLS Study N Score z p OBErs Postal 95 24.61 Non-OBErs Postal 158 25.59 1.985 < .047 OBErs Web 350 21.32 Non-OBErs Web 172 22.06 1.19 < .231
- 18. LSHS Scale Scores for OBErs vs Non-OBErs Mean LSHS Study N Score z p OBErs Postal 14 20.14 Non-OBErs Postal 29 14.93 1.09 < .276 OBErs Web 53 38.42 Non-OBErs Web 23 27.48 3.02 < .003
- 19. Correlations between OBE Frequency and the Other Experiences Study 1 : Postal Study 2: Web Variable N rs N rs Age 251 .03 518 .04 Education 239 .08 466 -.06 Religiousness 250 .17 515 .12 Headaches 253 .23* 522 .23* SWLS 253 .05 524 -.01 LSHS 43 .31 76 .62* *p < .0001
- 20. Correlations between OBE Frequency and the Other Experiences continued Study 1 : Postal Study 2: Web Variable N rs N rs Waking ESP 252 .46* 520 .55* Dream ESP 251 .42* 521 .48* Apparitions 252 .52* 523 .53* Auras 252 .59* 520 .54* OBE Feature Index 253 .65* 61 .49* OBE Transformation Index 253 .64* 61 .54* Psi Experiences w/o OBE item 253 .61* 524 .52*
- 21. Correlations between OBE Frequency and the Other Experiences continued Study 1: Postal Study 2: Web Variable N rs N rs Sense of oneness 252 .36* 520 .48* Déjà Vu 251 .38* 510 .42* Dream recall 253 .28* 524 .29* Disturbing dreams 251 .27* 524 .24* Lucid dreams 253 .36* 523 .481* Seeing colors while hearing sounds, music, voices 253 .52* 520 .49* Seeing colors while seeing, hearing, or thinking about letters or numbers 250 .55* 521 .54* * P < .0001
- 22. Significant Differences between Studies on Features of the OBE Experience Study 1: Postal Study 2: Web Fisher OBE Features N % N % Exact Able to pass through matter 10 0 48 45.8 .005 Illumination while out not normal light 10 0 52 40.4 .01 Sensation of rising while going out 9 66.7 50 38 .08 Looking down while out 9 66.7 54 40.7 .10
- 23. OBE Transformation Items Study 1: Postal Study 2 : Web (N = 11) (N = 61) % Yes % Yes Yourself 27.3 56 Human Nature 9.1 48 Communication with others 18.2 43 Material Wealth 9.1 28 Society 0 36 Life 27.3 49 Death 27.3 53 God 27.3 41 Other 9.1 0 Study 1 OBE Transformation Score was 1.55, significantly lower than the Study 2 OBE Transformation Score of 3.53, p < .0001.
- 24. Relationship of CDS Score to OBE Feature Index & OBE Transformation Score Study 1: Postal Study 2: Web N rs p N rs p CDS Score to: OBE Feature Index 11 -.15 ns 61 .32 .013 OBE Transformation Score 11 -.13 ns 61 .42 .001
- 25. Relationship of LSHS Score to OBE Feature Index & OBE Transformation Score Study 1: Postal Study 2: Web N rs p N rs p LSHS Score to: OBE Feature Index 9 .52 ns 61 .46 .001 OBE Transformation Score 9 .05 ns 61 .47 .001
- 26. Logistic Regression: CDS Items as Predictors of OBE Group Membership Study 1: Postal N = 253 Standard T Variable Coefficient Error Ratio p Item 6. Detached observer of self .391 .149 2.63 .009 Item 24. Feeling “robotic” .625 .241 2.59 .01 Item 15. Autoscopy 1.008 .404 2.50 .013 Item 17. Déjà Vu -.333 .142 -2.31 .019 Item 13. Detached from surroundings .450 .195 2.32 .021 Item 8. Body feels light .417 .182 2.29 .022 Constant -1.378 .282 -4.88 .000 2 (27)=107.932, p < .0001, log of likelihood = -113.473 79.1% of the cases were classified correctly
- 27. Logistic Regression: CDS Items as Predictors of OBE Group Membership Study 2: Web N = 521 Standard T Variable Coefficient Error Ratio p Item 8. Body feels light .301 .085 3.54 .000 Item 2. What is seen, flat, lifeless -.190 .057 -3.38 .001 Item 15. Autoscopy .378 .124 3.05 .002 Item 3. Parts of body don’t don’t seem to belong to me .342 .164 2.09 .037 Item 27. Have to touch myself to make sure my body is real -.403 .193 -2.09 .037 Constant -.261 .200 -1.30 .293 2 (27)=132.751, p < .0001, log of likelihood = -260.009123, 87.3% of the cases correctly classified
- 28. Logistic Regression: Experiences, CDS w/o OBE, Psi Index w/o OBE as Predictors of OBE Group Membership Study 1: Postal N = 244 Standard T Variable Coefficient Error Ratio p CDS Score w/o OBE .047 .011 4.45 .000 Constant 51.982 2152.483 .02 .981 2(13)=63.39, p < .0001, log of likelihood = -129.469411, 73.4% of the cases correctly classified
- 29. Standard T Variable Coefficient Error Ratio p ESP Dream .619 .141 4.38 .000 Aura .406 .142 2.87 .004 Synesthesias Numbers .560 .208 2.69 .007 Disturbing dreams -.423 .171 -2.48 .013 CDS Score w/o OBE item .009 .005 2.09 .037 Constant 35.11 1364.09 .03 .98 2 (13)=197.174, p < .0001, log of likelihood = -221.00384, 76.4% of the cases correctly classified Logistic Regression: Experiences, CDS w/o OBE, Psi Index w/o OBE as Predictors of OBE Group Membership Study 2: Web N = 501
- 30. CDS Scores for Yes/No Responses on Dream, Psi and Synesthesia Experiences Study 1: Postal Study 2: Web CDS Mean CDS Mean Experience Yes No z Yes No z Waking ESP 26.81 13.96 5.42*** 44.15 25.12 4.97*** Dream ESP 27.52 13.46 5.47*** 43.18 30.33 3.61*** Apparitions 29.61 15.17 4.98*** 45.48 22.39 6.68*** Aura 30.19 18.87 2.37* 50.00 30.12 6.32*** Sense of Oneness 23.64 15.64 3.61*** 42.32 25.96 3.46*** Déjà Vu 22.05 11.66 3.98*** 41.82 23.96 4.03** Synesthesia Color with Sounds 37.74 15.22 7.05*** 53.32 30.71 6.73*** Synesthesia Color with Numbers 38.03 17.19 5.25*** 57.38 32.86 7.33*** * p = .018, ** p = .001, *** = < .0001
- 31. LSHS Scores for Yes/No Responses on Dream, Psi and Synesthesia Experiences Study 1: Postal Study 2: Web LSHS Mean LSHS Mean Experience Yes No z Yes No z Waking ESP 18.04 15.44 .623 36.85 24.82 2.67** Dream ESP 20.35 12.59 1.90 36.29 23.88 2.67** Apparitions 24.00 13.73 2.34* 37.62 24.87 3.08** Aura 24.86 15.14 1.99* 40.26 28.25 3.77*** Sense of Oneness 17.39 15.20 1.22 35.44 30.80 .66 Déjà Vu 18.00 9.57 1.83 36.04 18.50 2.24* Synesthesia Color with Sounds 23.17 14.09 2.17* 39.95 30.26 3.21*** Synesthesia Color with Numbers 24.80 14.15 2.63** 39.94 31.59 2.68** *p <.05, ** p < .01, *** p < .0001
- 32. And now for something completely different …