Peak Experience Tendencies
Journal of Humanistic Psychology July 1, 1982 DOI: 10.1177/0022167882223011 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mystical experience |
| Citations | 53 |
| Key findings | Peak experiences are primarily transcendent and mystical cognitive events, and individuals who report them are more likely to live by Being-values and be self-actualizing. |
Abstract
The research reported here involved the creation of a measure of the tendency to have peak experiences called the Peak Scale, and the testing of several hypotheses drawn from Maslow's theory of peak experiences. It was found that although individuals who report having peak experiences are also likely to report having experiences involving intense happiness, they are even more prone to report having cognitive experiences of a transcendent and mystical nature. This suggests that although the peak experience involves positive affect, it is primarily a transcendent and mystical cognitive event. Individuals who report having peak experiences are more likely to report living in terms of Being-values, such as truth, beauty, and justice, than individuals who report not having peak experiences. Finally, self-actualizing individuals are more likely to report having peak experiences than less self-actualizing individuals, though the relationship is not a very strong one. In general, these results are consistent with Maslow's theorizing.
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on mystical experience, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Of Roots and Fruits: A Comparison of Psychedelic and Nonpsychedelic Mystical Experiences Self-selected participants who reported a religious, spiritual, or mystical experience | 2016 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 739 |
| Illicit Use of LSD or Psilocybin, but not MDMA or Nonpsychedelic Drugs, is Associated with Mystical Experiences in a Dose-Dependent Manner Adults recruited from the MAPS website and newsletter, most reporting use of various... | 2012 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 337 |
| Peak Experiences: Some Empirical Tests Random sample of adults in the San Francisco Bay Area | 1978 | Cross-sectional survey | |
| Rhythmic Chanting and Mystical States across Traditions. Regular chanters across 33 countries | 2021 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 464 |
| Mystical experiences associated with seizures Patients with epilepsy | 2014 | Cross-sectional study | n = 98 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 6
- The Varieties of Self-Transcendent Experience Review of General Psychology May 1, 2017
- The Humanized No-Self Journal of Humanistic Psychology October 1, 1989
- Peak experience and its varieties: Response to challenge as a valuable perspective of peak experience and its varieties Ceskoslovenska psychologie April 25, 2022
- A Review on Research and Evaluation Methods for Investigating Self-Transcendence. Frontiers in Psychology 2020
- Intense personal experiences: subjective effects, interpretations, and after-effects. Journal of Clinical Psychology September 1, 1990
and 1 more in the library