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Hinterbuchinger B, Koch M, Trimmel M, Litvan Z, Baumgartner J, Meyer EL, Friedrich F, Mossaheb N. Psychotic-like experiences in non-clinical subgroups with and without specific beliefs. BMC Psychiatry 2023; 23:397. [PMID: 37270507 DOI: 10.1186/s12888-023-04876-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2022] [Accepted: 05/16/2023] [Indexed: 06/05/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Assuming a transdiagnostic and extended psychosis phenotype, psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) and psychotic symptoms are on a phenomenological and temporal continuum between clinical and non-clinical populations. Recent research points towards differences in PLE proneness in different subgroups and clinical impact of different PLE subtypes. This study examines the prevalence of PLEs in three groups of individuals with and without specific sets of beliefs aiming to elucidate the question whether proneness to PLEs varies according to traditional versus less traditional supernatural beliefs. METHODS The anonymized 16-item version of the Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ-16) was used to assess PLEs in three groups including individuals with religious beliefs (RB), belief in esoterism and paranormal phenomena (EB), and those embedded in scientific evidence approach and scepticism towards para-scientific theories (non-believers, NB). Male and female participants between 18 and 90 years were eligible for participation. RESULTS The sample comprised 159 individuals including 41 RB individuals, 43 EB individuals, and 75 NB individuals. The mean PQ-16 score of the EB individuals (6.86 ± 4.13) was significantly higher compared to NB individuals (3.43 ± 2.99) and to RB individuals (3.38 ± 3.23) with almost twice the score (both p-values < 0.001). There was no significant difference between the PQ-16 scores of the NB group and the RB group (p = 0.935). No significant impact of age (p = 0.330) and gender (p = 0.061) was found on the PQ16-Score. Group affiliation to esoterism was associated with a higher PQ-16 score compared to group affiliation to religious beliefs (p < 0.001) and group affiliation to scepticism (p = 0.011), while the latter two did not differ significantly (p = 0.735). No significant difference was found between the three groups in the degree of distress related to the affirmatively answered PQ-16 items (p = 0.74). CONCLUSION Under the assumption of a transdiagnostic psychosis phenotype, our findings provide more insight which subgroups within non-clinical samples have a higher likelihood of reporting PLEs.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Hinterbuchinger
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Clinical Division of Social Psychiatry, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria.
| | - M Koch
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Clinical Division of Social Psychiatry, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria
| | - M Trimmel
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Clinical Division of Social Psychiatry, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria
| | - Z Litvan
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Clinical Division of Social Psychiatry, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria
| | - J Baumgartner
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Clinical Division of Social Psychiatry, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria
| | - E L Meyer
- Section for Medical Statistics, Center for Medical Statistics, Informatics, and Intelligent Systems, Medical University of Vienna, 1090, Vienna, Austria
| | - F Friedrich
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Clinical Division of Social Psychiatry, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria
| | - N Mossaheb
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Clinical Division of Social Psychiatry, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria
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Moulin CJA, Carreras F, Barzykowski K. The phenomenology of autobiographical retrieval. WIRES COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2022; 14:e1638. [DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2022] [Revised: 10/28/2022] [Accepted: 11/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Chris J. A. Moulin
- Laboratoire de Psychologie et Neurocognition (LPNC CNRS 5105) Université Grenoble Alpes Grenoble France
- Institut Universitaire de France Paris France
| | - Fabien Carreras
- Laboratoire de Psychologie et Neurocognition (LPNC CNRS 5105) Université Grenoble Alpes Grenoble France
| | - Krystian Barzykowski
- Applied Memory Research Laboratory Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University Kraków Poland
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Mavrogiorgou P, Juckel G. [Paranormal Experience and Mental Disorders]. FORTSCHRITTE DER NEUROLOGIE-PSYCHIATRIE 2022. [PMID: 36070772 DOI: 10.1055/a-1917-0331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Paranormal experiences such as superstition, perception of the supernatural and magical thinking have accompanied human history into the so-called modern world and play a major role in developmental psychology. Yet this area has remained unclear in its terminology, in its phenomenal scope, but also in its relation to reality in literature and everyday practice. The attempt is here undertaken clarify the significance of paranormal experience on a theoretical level in the sense of a "unsure experience of reality", but also to present its importance for diagnostics and therapy of psychiatric conditions in the context of e. g., psychotic, dissociative or OCD-related symptomatology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paraskevi Mavrogiorgou
- LWL-Universitätsklinikum der Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Klinik für Psychiatrie, Psychotherapie und Präventivmedizin, Bochum, Germany
| | - Georg Juckel
- LWL-Universitätsklinikum der Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Klinik für Psychiatrie, Psychotherapie und Präventivmedizin, Bochum, Germany
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Escolà-Gascón Á. Researching unexplained phenomena: empirical-statistical validity and reliability of the Multivariable Multiaxial Suggestibility Inventory-2 (MMSI-2). Heliyon 2020; 6:e04291. [PMID: 32671247 PMCID: PMC7347654 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04291] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2020] [Revised: 05/18/2020] [Accepted: 06/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/03/2022] Open
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Álex Escolà-Gascón
- Faculty of Psychology, Education and Sport Sciences, FPCEE Blanquerna, Ramon Llull University, Barcelona, Spain
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Tagami U, Imaizumi S. No Correlation Between Perception of Meaning and Positive Schizotypy in a Female College Sample. Front Psychol 2020; 11:1323. [PMID: 32595575 PMCID: PMC7304487 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2020] [Accepted: 05/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
We visually perceive meaning from stimuli in the external world. There are inter-individual variations in the perception of meaning. A candidate factor to explain this variation is positive schizotypy, which is a personality analogous to positive symptoms of schizophrenia (e.g., visual hallucination). The present study investigated the relationship between positive schizotypy, and the perception of meaning derived from meaningful and meaningless visual stimuli. Positive schizotypy in Japanese female undergraduates (n = 35) was assessed by the Cognitive-Perceptual dimension of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire. The participants were asked to report what they saw in noise-degraded images of meaningful objects (Experiment 1) and to respond whether the objects were meaningful (Experiment 2A) and which paired objects were meaningful (Experiment 2B). Positive schizotypy (i.e., Cognitive-Perceptual score) did not correlate with time to detect meaningful objects, and with false-alarm rates, sensitivity, and response criterion in the perception of meaning from meaningful and meaningless stimuli. These results were against our hypothesis and contradicted previous findings. The inconsistencies are discussed in terms of different methods (e.g., stimulus category) and conditions (e.g., paranormal beliefs).
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Affiliation(s)
- Ubuka Tagami
- Graduate School of Humanities and Sciences, Ochanomizu University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Shu Imaizumi
- Institute for Education and Human Development, Ochanomizu University, Tokyo, Japan
- *Correspondence: Shu Imaizumi,
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Pérez Navarro JM, Martínez Guerra X. Personality, cognition, and morbidity in the understanding of paranormal belief. Psych J 2019; 9:118-131. [PMID: 31183994 DOI: 10.1002/pchj.295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2018] [Revised: 09/30/2018] [Accepted: 04/24/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
A large number of theories about the development and maintenance of paranormal beliefs have been raised in the literature. There is, however, a lack of studies designed to integrate the different perspectives. We reviewed the literature and explored a series of factors in a sample of 180 individuals. Seven variables showed significant correlation indices at α = .01. A regression analysis revealed subjective paranormal experience as the variable that contributed the most to the explanation of paranormal belief, z = .43, 95% confidence interval (CI) [.24, .56]. Need for achievement (z = .31, 95% CI [.11, to .46]), conditional reasoning (z = .10, 95% CI [.09, .28]), and schizotypy (z = .29, 95% CI [.09, .45]) also contributed significantly in the equation. The associations found between the subscales of the Needs Questionnaire and belief in the paranormal support the hipothesis that paranormal belief may serve basic psychological needs. Similarly, the association found in the case of schizotypy suggests that paranormal belief might be held within the context of psychopathology. There was no evidence, however, supporting the hypothesis of a reasoning deficit in believers. It was concluded that, once paranormal beliefs develop, there is an interaction between belief and experience that strongly contributes towards its maintenance.
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Analyzing Human Random Generation: an Approach Based on the Zener Card Test. JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE ENHANCEMENT 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s41465-018-0097-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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