Fantasy proneness, paranormal beliefs and personality features in out-of-body experiences

Researching unexplained phenomena: empirical-statistical validity and reliability of the Multivariable Multiaxial Suggestibility Inventory-2 (MMSI-2)

Anomalous phenomena are unexplained occurrences, such as paranormal experiences, that challenge the ontological bases of current scientific knowledge and are considered scientifically impossible. Problematically, some scientific research yields significant statistical results in favor of the existence of telepathy, precognition, mind-matter interaction, and mediumship. The current study presents and statistically justifies the Multivariable Multiaxial Suggestibility Inventory-2 (MMSI-2), a new psychological instrument to measure and detect the main psychological explanations for anomalous experiences. A nonprobabilistic sample of 3,224 subjects without a psychiatric history were recruited from the general population of Spain. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to examine the internal structure of the MMSI-2's 174 items. Direct oblimin and promax oblique rotations were applied as criteria for axis rotation. Cronbach's alpha coefficients and their ordinal transformation were also calculated, and gender-differentiated scales for the raw MMSI-2 scale scores were developed. The first-order factorial solution yielded a total of 16 factors that explained 92.84% of the variance. Of these, 10 corresponded to the psychological variables cited in the background literature, four classified the anomalous phenomena according to their sensory mode, and two represented prototype control scales for this class of psychometric inventory. The higher-order EFA grouped the MMSI-2 scales into four macrofactors that together explained 97.737% of the variance. Satisfactory reliability rates were obtained (alphas>0.8). The full version of the MMSI-2 with 174 items is a valid and reliable psychometric instrument for evaluating anomalous phenomena and the theoretically concomitant psychological variables. Similarly, the scaling of scores can be used in psychological assessment as a screening tool to identify clinically suspected psychological variables.

Anomalous experiences are more prevalent among highly suggestible individuals who are also highly dissociative

Introduction: Predictive coding models propose that high hypnotic suggestibility confers a predisposition to hallucinate due to an elevated propensity to weight perceptual beliefs (priors) over sensory evidence. Multiple lines of research corroborate this prediction and demonstrate a link between hypnotic suggestibility and proneness to anomalous perceptual states. However, such effects might be moderated by dissociative tendencies, which seem to account for heterogeneity in high hypnotic suggestibility. We tested the prediction that the prevalence of anomalous experiences would be greater among highly suggestible individuals who are also highly dissociative.Methods: We compared high and low dissociative highly suggestible participants and low suggestible controls on multiple psychometric measures of anomalous experiences.Results: High dissociative highly suggestible participants reliably reported greater anomalous experiences than low dissociative highly suggestible participants and low suggestible controls, who did not significantly differ from each other.Conclusions: These results suggest a greater predisposition to experience anomalous perceptual states among high dissociative highly suggestible individuals.

The autoscopic phenomena in neurological clinic: A study of two cases

Autoscopic phenomena are part of the reduplicative misidentification syndromes. These disorders may be a manifestation of both neurological and psychiatric conditions and consist of a double perception of the own body. These phenomena have been attributed to a dysfunction of the nondominant gyrus angularis. Two cases with this symptom are described. Case 1: A female with previous history of multiple sclerosis presented with episodes in which she saw herself in her extrapersonal space. Holter EEG was normal. An MRI scan showed multiple T2 hyperintensities. She was treated with carbamazepine and the symptom subsided. Case 2: A man presented with visual loss in the left field and episodic visualization of his own image. Examination confirmed left homonymous hemianopia. Serum glucose was 417 mg/dL. MRI was normal. Glycemia correction made the autoscopia disappear. In case 1, ephaptic transmission is proposed as the pathogenic mechanism and in the case 2, transient glucose toxicity is likely to explain the autoscopic phenomena.

Dissociative alterations in body image among individuals reporting out-of-body experiences: a conceptual replication

A conceptual replication of the link between self-reported dissociative alterations in body-image under experimental conditions and the reporting of prior out-of-body experiences in a recent data set was undertaken. Also examined was whether this relationship would hold for experiences reported during the experimental context and whether it is independent of self-reported New Age belief. Data from mostly undergraduates (N= 40; M age = 33.5, SD = 12.5; 27 women) in a mirror-gazing study were retrospectively analyzed. The 9 individuals who reported prior out-of-body experiences, relative to those 31 who did not, exhibited significantly greater self-reported dissociative alterations in body-image during the mirror-gazing task, even when the influence of scores on New Age belief was controlled for statistically. The same differential relationship was not found between 6 individuals who did and 34 who did not report out-of-body experiences during the task.