Journal of Religion and Health
March 31, 2026
Ana Cláudia Mesquita Garcia, Everson Meireles, Eliza Mara Das Chagas Paiva et al.
Mystical experiences are commonly described in the context of psychedelic use and other forms of expanded states of consciousness. Although the Mystical Orientation Scale Revised (MOSR) has been used in international studies, no Brazilian Portuguese version had been tested to date. This exploratory study aimed to translate, culturally adapt, and examine the psychometric properties of the MOSR...
Journal of Beliefs and Values
May 13, 2020
Leslie J. Francis, R. Powell, A. Village
ABSTRACT The psychological and pathological correlates of mystical experience have been debated since the early days of the psychology of religion. In the present study the association between mystical experience and emotional wellbeing was tested among 1,266 Australian church leaders who completed the Eysenck Neuroticism Scale alongside the Francis-Louden Mystical Orientation Scale. No...
January 24, 2020
Christopher F. J. Ross, Leslie J. Francis
1 citation
This study builds on earlier work to test Ross’ thesis that the perceiving process is core to individual differences in religious experience. Data provided by 149 adolescents (16–18 years of age) who completed the Francis Psychological Type Scales alongside the Mystical Orientation Scale supported Ross’ thesis. Intuitive types recorded a significantly higher score than sensing types on the...
Journal of Contemporary Religion
September 2, 2018
Giuseppe Giordan, Leslie J. Francis, Giuseppe Crea
6 citations
The study presented in this article draws on theories and methods developed within the psychology of religion to examine, from a fresh perspective, a problem established within the sociology of religion: the ‘oddity of the Italian situation’. The study employs the notion of openness to mystical experience as an indicator of the level of spiritual awareness among a sample of 1,155 Italians...
Psychology of Religion and Spirituality
April 27, 2017
Leslie J. Francis, A. Village, R. Powell
Quest-religious orientation among church leaders signifies a style of leadership committed to religious explorations more than to religious certainties. For this study, we set out to explore the extent to which quest orientation among a sample of 1,265 religious church leaders who participated in the 2011 Australian National Church Life Survey was a function of psychological predisposition,...
April 21, 2017
Leslie J. Francis, Giuseppe Crea
This study examines Ross’ thesis that intuitive types are more open than sensing types to mystical experience among a sample of 1155 Italians who completed the Francis Psychological Type Scales alongside the Mystical Orientation Scale. The data supported Ross’ thesis. Intuitive types recorded a significantly higher mean score than sensing types on the index of mystical orientation. Ranking the...
2014
Leslie J. Francis, M. Robbins
This study addressed two research questions among three samples of 14- to 18-year-old adolescents: 203 Muslims, 477 Christians, and 378 religiously unaffiliated young people in England and Wales. The first question examined the comparative extent to which the religiously unaffiliated reported mystical experience. The second question examined the association between mystical experience and...
Warwick Research Archive Portal
November 1, 2013
Leslie J. Francis
Since the pioneering work of William James at the dawn of the twentieth century, psychologists have been interested in the study of mysticism, with the consequence that mysticism is now the aspect of religious experience most adequately and most comprehensively discussed within the psychology of religion. The aims of this paper are threefold. First, attention is given to the detailed...