The Out-of-Body Experience and Personality Adjustment

College students who reported having out-of-body experiences were compared with those who did not on measures of personality adjustment, death orientation, defensive style, narcissism, self-concept, and social desirability. Among 445 students, 65 reported such experiences. No meaningful differences in personality adjustment emerged between the two groups. The only distinction was that reporters endorsed stronger beliefs in precognition, psi, spiritualism, and witchcraft. The findings suggest that having an out-of-body experience is not linked to either better or worse psychological adjustment.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Relationships between the out-of-body experience and personality adjustment were studied. A total of 445 college students, including 65 reporting out-of-body experiences, completed self-report measures of death orientation, defensive style, narcissism, paranormal beliefs, self-concept, and social desirability. No significant differences were found between respondents reporting out-of-body experiences and nonreporters on any of the instruments, except for the Paranormal Belief Scale. Reporters of out-of-body experiences showed significantly greater belief in precognition, psi, spiritualism, and witchcraft than did nonreporters. Findings indicate considerable similarity between reporters and nonreporters in personality adjustment. It is clear that, on these personality adjustment measures, the out-of-body experience was associated with neither less effective nor more effective adjustment.