RT Article
T1 The role of alcohol in expectancy-driven mystical experiences: a pre-registered field study using placebo brain stimulation
JF Religion, brain & behavior
VO 9
IS 2
SP 108
OP 125
A1 Maij, David L. R.
A1 Schjødt, Uffe
A1 Elk, Michiel van
LA English
PB Routledge
YR 2019
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/174110372X
AB We explored the effects of alcohol on expectancy-driven mystical and quasi-mystical experiences by manipulating participants’ expectations. By using the so-called God Helmet suggestion, participants were led to believe that a placebo brain stimulation could elicit mystical experiences. In this pre-registered field study, we set out to test whether alcohol could increase participants’ susceptibility to the God Helmet suggestion in a large sample (N = 193) at a Dutch festival. Participants reported a wide range of extraordinary experiences associated with mysticism, including out-of-body experiences, involuntary movements, and the felt presence of invisible beings. Regression analyses revealed that self-identified spiritualism predicted extraordinary experiences, but neither objective nor subjective measures of alcohol intoxication increased participants’ susceptibility to the God Helmet. Methodological limitations that may explain the lack of an effect for alcohol are discussed, while we explore the usefulness of the God Helmet in the study of extraordinary experiences.
K1 God Helmet
K1 Alcohol
K1 executive function
K1 Expectancy
K1 mystical experiences
K1 Suggestibility
DO 10.1080/2153599X.2017.1403952