Sensory supernatural experiences in autism

Abstract

This study examines attribution of supernatural agency in 17 Swedish, high functioning young adults on the autism spectrum, who describe sensing presence, feeling touch, and seeing visions without input of somatosensory stimuli. These participants report many more such incidents than the matched, non-autistic group participants, and current research suggests that unusual somatosensory experiences are prevalent in the autistic population. Attribution of invisible agency is understood as a sense-making coping strategy, and it is argued that esoteric content in fantasy literature, movies and computer games explain why these young adults prefer to attribute agency to ghosts, spirits and demons, rather than god(s). The study thereby extends and challenges the study of autism and religiosity by exploring the intersection between autistic embodiment and encultured cognition.

The Transdiagnostic Relevance of Self-Other Distinction to Psychiatry Spans Emotional, Cognitive and Motor Domains

“…Belief that one has excessive ability and responsibility to prevent harm(144). Lower use of agency related language vs. HCs (145) ASD Reduced intention attribution(146) and altered sense of agency in mystical experience(147) BPD BPD v HC less agentic in their descriptions for self and other stories seeing people as powerless(148).NPDHigh vs. low sense of agency and self-esteem associated with grandiose traits vs. vulnerable traits respectively, in non-clinical sample(149) NPD Antagonism is at the core of narcissism(169,170) low compliance(167) and self-defeating traits(171) are also associated(Continued)…”

Skeppssamhället: rang, roller och status på örlogsskepp under 1600-talet

“…Under andra halvan av 1600-talet togs ytterligare kanonportar upp i sidorna. 165 Det är tänkbart att det på engelska skepp under 1600-talets första hälft fanns små hytter längs skrovsidorna på det undre batteridäcket (se vidare diskussion om hytter nedan). 162 Endsor 2009 s. 64-65.…”

Proximate and ultimate causes of supernatural beliefs

“…We replicated this finding in a large-scale cross-cultural study including more than 65,000 participants, showing that an increased mentalizing ability was indeed positively associated with supernatural beliefs (Maij et al, 2017 ). Thus, the hypothesized relation between mentalizing and supernatural beliefs appears robust, even though reported effect sizes are small and several studies have highlighted that despite mentalizing deficits, people scoring high on the autism quotient can still endorse supernatural beliefs and have supernatural encounters (Schaap-Jonker et al, 2013 ; Visuri, 2020 ).…”