The omega project: An empirical study of the NDE-prone personality

Ring, Kenneth; Rosing, Christopher J.

doi:10.1007/bf01074276

Cited by 32 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…It is likely that the experiencers recalling NDEs-like are unusually sensitive to internal states and possess a special propensity to pick up certain perceptual elements that other individuals are blind to. This formulation is consistent with the notion of a “NDE-prone personality,” defined as “the capacity to shift into states of consciousness that afford access to non-ordinary realities coupled with strong tendencies toward psychological absorption” (27). In line with this, fantasy prone individuals' lives appear to be experientially richer (33) and as a consequence, their fantasies are “as real as real” (15).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

“…An unpublished conference presentation found stronger imaginative activities [as indexed by the Inventory of Childhood Memories and Imaginings; (26)] in experiencers reporting classical NDEs compared with those reporting an event that brought them near to death but did not feel that they had a NDE or with healthy subjects (Council and Greyson, unpublished data, 1985). By contrast, using the Childhood Experience Inventory, Ring and Rosing (27) did not find more pronounced imaginative involvement in people reporting NDEs. These conflicting findings may be due to the different instruments that the authors employed to measure fantasy proneness.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

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Fantasy Proneness Correlates With the Intensity of Near-Death Experience

et al. 2018

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Little is known about the personality characteristics of those who have experienced a “Near-Death Experience” (NDE). One interesting candidate is fantasy proneness. We studied this trait in individuals who developed NDEs in the presence (i.e., classical NDEs) or absence (i.e., NDEs-like) of a life-threatening situation. We surveyed a total of 228 individuals. From those, 108 qualified as NDE experiencers (i.e., Greyson NDE scale total score ≥7): 51 had their NDEs in the context of a life-threatening situation; 57 had their NDEs not related to a life-threatening situation. From those who did not meet the criteria to be considered “experiencers,” 20 had their NDE in the absence of a life-threatening situation; 50 had faced death but did not recall a NDE and finally, 50 were healthy people without a history of life threat and/or NDE. All participants completed a measure of NDE intensity (the Greyson NDE scale) and a measure of fantasy proneness (the Creative Experiences Questionnaire). People reporting NDEs-like scored higher on fantasy proneness than those reporting classical NDEs, individuals whose experiences did not meet the NDE criteria and matched controls. By contrast, individuals reporting classical NDEs did not show different engagement in fantasy as matched controls. The reported intensity of the experiences was positively correlated with engagement in fantasy. Our findings support the view that strong engagement in fantasy by individuals recalling NDEs-like might make these persons more likely to report such subjective experiences when exposed to suitable physiological and/or psychological conditions (e.g., meditation, syncope).

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Fantasy Proneness Correlates With the Intensity of Near-Death Experience

et al. 2018

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“…Tout d'abord, les gens qui croient aux phénomènes paranormaux ou qui ont vécu des expériences paranormales ont plus souvent rapporté des expériences d'événements traumatiques (par ex., agression, maladie, isolement) que les autres (Irwin, 1992(Irwin, , 1993b(Irwin, , 1994(Irwin, , 1996Lawrence et al, 1995;Perkins & Allen, 2006;Ring & Rosing, 1990;Ross & Joshi, 1992).…”

Section: L'émergence Et La Fonction Des Croyances Paranormalesunclassified

Chercher un sens à ses rêves: Rapports avec le bien-être, la personnalité et l'accessibilité onirique.

Simard

Beaulieu-Prévost

Zadra

2013

Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science / Revue canadienne des

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La prégnance de croyances significatives à l'égard du rêve à travers les différentes époques de l'humanité laisse supposer que ce phénomène revêt une certaine importance. Qu'est-ce qui est à l'origine de l'émergence de ces croyances chez certaines personnes ? Ont-elles une fonction spécifique pour l'être humain ? Les écrits portant sur ces questions étant limités, un parallèle avec le domaine du paranormal a été proposé. On a demandé à 354 participants de tenir un journal de rêves quotidien et de répondre à des questionnaires concernant leur personnalité, leur niveau de bien-être psychologique et les croyances qu'ils ont envers les rêves. Les éléments proposés dans l'acquisition et le maintien des croyances paranormales peuvent se transposer partiellement aux croyances relatives aux rêves. Ainsi, l'adoption de croyances reliées à la signification onirique et à la spiritualité onirique est liée à la présence d'expériences négatives et une sensibilité aux expériences subjectives. L'aspect modérateur des frontières psychologiques, de l'absorption ainsi que du rappel de rêves ont aussi été évalués.

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“…In some research by Christopher Rosing and myself (Ring and Rosing, 1990), we discovered that NDErs are dispro portionately likely to come from the ranks of children who had been abused or had experienced other forms of trauma or stress in child hood. Musing on the possible psychosocial roots of the NDE, it occurred to me that in some strange, and strangely comforting, way the NDE may sometimes be almost like a compensatory gift vouchsafed to those who have had to endure the terrible wounds of such childhoods.…”

Section: Amazing Gracementioning

confidence: 99%

Amazing grace: The near-death experience as a compensatory gift

Ring

1991

J Near-Death Stud

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This paper illustrates the apparently providential timing and the healing character of near-death experiences (NDEs) and NDE-like epi sodes, through four case histories of persons whose lives, prior to their experi ences, were marked by deep anguish and a sense of hopelessness. Spiritually, such case histories suggest the intervention of a guiding intelligence that confers a form of "amazing grace" on the recipient. Methodologically, these reports point to the importance of taking into account the person's life history as a context for understanding the full significance of NDEs and similar awakening experiences. The article ends with a retrospective account of a childhood NDE in which "the big secret" of these experiences is disclosed."We who are about to die demand a miracle."W. H. Auden (cited in Grosso, 1985)During the past fourteen years of my research on near-death experi ences (NDEs), I have often been struck by the seemingly providential character and timing of these experiences. An individual whose life is spinning out of control and heading on a clearly self-destructive course has an accident and experiences the healing balm of absolute love and unconditional acceptance in the light, and returns to life knowing he has been set right again. A man, after several previous suicidal ges tures, takes a massive overdose of barbiturates that would ordinarily guarantee his demise, but for some unknown reason an NDE super JOURNAL OF NEAR-DEATH STUDIESvenes, during which he comes to see his life with the healing clarity of deep compassion and self-understanding. He hears a telepathic communication-he knows not from whom-telling him that he will recover and will never again attempt suicide, and so it is. A woman, the victim of childhood incest of which she has no conscious memory, falls seriously ill with an undiagnosed illness and while close to death has a fullblown NDE during which she remembers. The unlocking of her poisoned memories unleashes powerful healing energies and en ables her to confront for the first time and eventually to overcome the psychological obstacles that had hitherto crippled her life.When such cases as these-and they are typical of many NDErs I have encountered-are considered one after another, it is hard to resist the inference that the NDE, at bottom, is itself a healing force. It is almost as though some guiding and benevolent intelligence, seeing that a person's life is about to be shattered, intervenes at the critical moment and makes it whole again (healing of course means "to make whole") by providing a soul-saving revelation through the NDE. Amazing GraceRecently, I came across this same dynamic operating in a different developmental context. In some research by Christopher Rosing and myself (Ring and Rosing, 1990), we discovered that NDErs are dispro portionately likely to come from the ranks of children who had been abused or had experienced other forms of trauma or stress in child hood. Musing on the possible psychosocial roots of the NDE, it occurred to me that in s...

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The omega project: An empirical study of the NDE-prone personality

Cited by 32 publications

References 4 publications

Fantasy Proneness Correlates With the Intensity of Near-Death Experience

Fantasy Proneness Correlates With the Intensity of Near-Death Experience

Chercher un sens à ses rêves: Rapports avec le bien-être, la personnalité et l'accessibilité onirique.

Amazing grace: The near-death experience as a compensatory gift

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