Defining near-death experiences
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Near-death experience |
| Citations | 42 |
| Key points | Argues that current definitions of near-death experiences are circular and conflate description, measurement, and diagnosis, requiring a new accepted definition and fixed-interval scale. |
Abstract
Researchers have failed to distinguish definitions of near-death experiences (NDEs), criteria for identifying them and tests of those criteria. Few researchers specify criteria or apply standard tests; those who do often use those tests inappropriately. Tests of NDEs may either describe their common features, measure their depth, or 'diagnose' their occurrence; all three have been used to define NDEs, although they serve different purposes. Since we do not have a dichotomous diagnostic test for NDEs, researchers define NDEs by scales summing characteristic elements, a circular definition that uses intervening variables in place of NDEs themselves, and begs questions of different elements' sensitivity and specificity for NDEs. Researchers need to identify the critical dimension(s) to be assessed in determining depth of NDEs and develop an accepted definition of the phenomenon and a fixed-interval scale with which to measure it.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on near-death experience, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Otherworld Journeys: Accounts of Near-Death Experience in Medieval and Modern Times | 1987 | Historical analysis | |
| Neuroscience and the Near-Death Experience: Roles for the NMSA-PCP receptor, the sigma receptor and the endopsychosins | 1990 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Implications of near-death experiences for a postmaterialist psychology. | 2010 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Near-Death Experience as a Probe to Explore (Disconnected) Consciousness | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Near-death experiences between science and prejudice | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 14
- Making Sense of Near-Death Experience Research: Circumstance Specific Alterations of Consciousness Anthropology of Consciousness March 1, 2019
- “FALSE POSITIVE” CLAIMS OF NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES AND “FALSE NEGATIVE” DENIALS OF NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES Death Studies February 23, 2005
- Supernal Dreaming: On Myth and Metaphysics Religions October 26, 2020
- Reframing death: life-affirming messages from the dead through the lens of Spiritualism and tarot Mortality October 25, 2024
- Zur Psychologie von Nahtoderfahrungen in religionswissenschaftlicher Perspektive Universitätsverlag Kiel | Kiel University Publishing eBooks September 1, 2022
and 9 more in the library
Cites 10
- The Near-Death Experience Scale The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease June 1, 1983
- Distressing Near-Death Experiences Psychiatry February 1, 1992
- Near-death experiences. American Psychological Association eBooks October 27, 2004
- A typology of near-death experiences American Journal of Psychiatry August 1, 1985
- Childhood Near-Death Experiences Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine November 1, 1986
and 5 more in the library