Personality traits and pattern of beliefs of near-death(-like) experiencers

Aminata Bicego; Héléna Cassol; Jessica Simon; Pauline Fritz; Simona Abagnale; Audrey Vanhaudenhuyse; Steven Laureys; Charlotte Martial

doi:10.3389/fnhum.2023.1124739

Personality traits and pattern of beliefs of near-death(-like) experiencers

Front Hum Neurosci. 2023 Apr 28:17:1124739. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2023.1124739. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Aminata Bicego¹, Héléna Cassol^{2

3}, Jessica Simon⁴, Pauline Fritz^{3

5}, Simona Abagnale³, Audrey Vanhaudenhuyse^{1

6}, Steven Laureys^{3

5

7}, Charlotte Martial^{3

5}

Affiliations

¹ Sensation and Perception Research Group, GIGA-Consciousness, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
² Neurological and Functional Rehabilitation Center, University Hospital of Liège, Fraiture, Belgium.
³ Coma Science Group, GIGA-Consciousness, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
⁴ Psychology and Neuroscience of Cognition Research Unit (PsyNCog), University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
⁵ Centre du Cerveau2, University Hospital of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
⁶ Interdisciplinary Algology Centre, University Hospital of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
⁷ CERVO Brain Research Center, University of Laval, Québec, QC, Canada.

Abstract

Introduction: Little is known about the potential personality and psychological predictors of near-death experiences (NDEs), and fewer yet those of near-death-like experiences (NDEs-like; similar phenomenology reported after a non-life-threatening context). This study investigated whether personality traits (Openness, Extraversion, Pleasantness, Conscientiousness, and Neuroticism), dissociative experiences, Fantasy proneness, disposition toward auditory hallucinations, absorption trait, and endorsement of paranormal and spiritual beliefs could be associated with the recall of NDEs(-like).

Methods: To this aim, we invited four groups of people to retrospectively fill in questionnaires assessing the following factors: NDE experiencers (n = 63), NDE(-like) experiencers (n = 31), controls with a life-threatening situation but no NDE(-like) (n = 43), and controls without a life-threatening situation or an NDE(-like) (n = 44). We carried out univariate analyses for each factor and then performed a multiple regression analysis and a discriminant analysis.

Results: The multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the endorsement of spiritual beliefs was associated with the recall of NDEs-like while Openness and Fantasy proneness were associated with the recall of NDEs. The discriminant analysis showed that these variables produce 35% of correct classification.

Discussion: Albeit retrospective, these results pave the way for future research on psychological predictors of NDEs(-like) by highlighting the influence of Spirituality, Openness, and Fantasy proneness on these phenomena.

Keywords: Fantasy proneness; Openness; Spirituality; near-death experience; near-death-like experience; personality.

Grants and funding

The study was further supported by the University and University Hospital of Liège, the Belgian National Funds for Scientific Research (FRS-FNRS), the BIAL Foundation, the European Union's Horizon 2020 Framework Program for Research and Innovation under the Specific Grant Agreement No. 945539 (Human Brain Project SGA3), the FNRS PDR project (T.0134.21), the ERA-Net FLAG-ERA JTC2021 project ModelDXConsciousness (Human Brain Project Partnering Projects), the fund Generet, the King Baudouin Foundation, the Télévie Foundation, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO) in the framework of the PRODEX Programme, the Mind Science Foundation, the European Commission, the Fondation Léon Fredericq, the Mind-Care foundation, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Joint Research Project 81471100), and the European Foundation of Biomedical Research FERB Onlus and Wallonia as part of a program of the BioWin Health Cluster framework.