The Construction and Preliminary Validation of a Measure of Reported Mystical Experience
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion March 1, 1975 Ralph W. Hood 713 citations
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Ralph W. Hood
10 papers in the library · 1,932 citations · publishing 1974-2026
Papers
The Varieties of Self-Transcendent Experience
Review of General Psychology May 1, 2017 David Bryce Yaden, Jonathan Haidt, Ralph W. Hood et al. 682 citations
Self-loss is often linked to mental illness, but this review proposes that temporary states of reduced self-focus and heightened connectedness—called self-transcendent experiences (STEs)—may also promote mental health. The authors identify common psychological constructs with a self-transcendent aspect, such as mindfulness, flow, peak experiences, mystical-type experiences, and positive emotions like love and awe. Drawing on literature from social psychology, clinical psychology, and affective neuroscience, they propose psychological and neurobiological mechanisms that might underlie STEs' effects. The review concludes with suggestions for future empirical research to further explore these experiences.
Religion, Altered States of Consciousness, and Social Change
Review of Religious Research January 1, 1976 Ralph W. Hood, Erika Bourguignon 174 citations
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Of Roots and Fruits: A Comparison of Psychedelic and Nonpsychedelic Mystical Experiences
Journal of Humanistic Psychology October 24, 2016 David B. Yaden, Khoa D. Le Nguyen, Margaret L. Kern et al. 125 citations
Religious, spiritual, or mystical experiences triggered by psychedelic substances are rated as more intensely mystical and produce a reduced fear of death, a greater sense of purpose, and increased spirituality compared to similar experiences arising through other means. These findings held even after controlling for gender, education, socioeconomic status, and religious affiliation. The results support the view that psychedelic-induced experiences are genuinely mystical and generally positive in outcome.
The language of ineffability: Linguistic analysis of mystical experiences.
Psychology of Religion and Spirituality July 27, 2015 David B. Yaden, Johannes C. Eichstaedt, H. Andrew Schwartz et al. 68 citations
People who report having had mystical experiences use language that is more socially and spatially inclusive—words like 'close,' 'we,' and 'with'—and fewer overtly religious terms such as 'prayed,' 'Christ,' or 'church' compared to those who have not had such experiences. This pattern emerged from quantitative linguistic analysis of 777 participants' written accounts of their most significant spiritual or religious experience. The findings suggest that mystical experiences, though often described as ineffable, can be meaningfully communicated, and that language analysis offers a way to study them.
Psychological Strength and the Report of Intense Religious Experience
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion March 1, 1974 Ralph W. Hood 63 citations
Intense religious experiences are not necessarily linked to psychological weakness. Across two studies, a negative correlation between intense religious experience and ego-strength disappeared when religion-related items were removed from the ego-strength scale. In a second study, people with low psychic inadequacy reported intense religious experiences more often than those with high psychic inadequacy. The findings suggest that such experiences, often called mystical or peak, can occur in psychologically healthy individuals and are not inherently pathological. The authors emphasize using independently defined measures to assess the relationship between religious experience and psychological health.
Common Core Thesis and Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Mysticism in Chinese Buddhist Monks and Nuns
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion December 1, 2011 Zhuo Chen, Qi Wen, Ralph W. Hood et al. 54 citations
Among 139 Chinese Pure Land and Chan Buddhist monastics, the common facets of mysticism identified by Stace and measured by Hood's Mysticism Scale successfully described Buddhist experience, though modified by Buddhist doctrines. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that Stace's three-factor structure fit the data, but the hypothesized separation between introvertive and extrovertive unity converged in this Chinese Buddhist context. These results strongly support the idea that mystical experience has a common experiential core across religious traditions and that this core can be studied with mixed methods.
Mystical experience: Conceptualizations, measurement, and correlates.
American Psychological Association eBooks December 31, 2012 Ralph W. Hood, Leslie J. Francis 52 citations
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Religious Ecstasy and Other Intense Emotions
Religion and Spirituality Across Cultures January 1, 2014 Ralph W. Hood 1 citation
Ecstatic and mystical states, whether achieved through hyperarousal or hypoarousal, can contribute to human flourishing and a positive sense of the sacred. Fisher's model of ergotropic and trophotropic arousal provides a neurophysiological basis for these states, which minimize focus on the ego in favor of union with a larger consciousness. Such states are facilitated by various procedures and, when placed in a proper set and setting, support well-being.
The Uncommonness of the Common Core
Oxford University Press eBooks June 22, 2026 Ralph W. Hood, Malynda Clark
This chapter examines the common core thesis of mystical experience by situating contemporary empirical psychology within the longer intellectual history of psychology, philosophy, and theology. It traces how William James and Walter Stace defend the distinction between experience and interpretation, establishing a foundation for cross-cultural, phenomenological, and psychometric study, while critics such as McGinn and Wulff question the adequacy of measurement approaches. The chapter argues that psychology's embrace of positivist empiricism narrows its scope and excludes transcendent phenomena, contrasting this reductionism with historical and philosophical perspectives that affirm the ontological and epistemological significance of mystical experience. It argues for methodological pluralism that integrates empirical, philosophical, and theological approaches to investigate transcendent experience without reducing it to pathology or cultural construction.