Factor Analysis of the Mystical Scale in Yi Ethnic Group: Indigenous Psychologies and Universalism

Among 428 Yi participants, those who practice Bimoism and those without a Bimoism background both exhibit mystical experiences that fit Stace’s three-factor structure. However, the ordering of factors differs: transcendence for Bimoist Yi is more extrovertive, whereas for non-Bimoist Yi it is more introvertive. The authors argue that these results support a common experiential core of mystical experience across traditions, while also showing that sociocultural and religious context shapes how people organize those experiences. The study supports the universality of mysticism at the facet level and highlights distinct factor structures reflecting indigenous psychologies.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This study explores the factor structure of mystical experience among 428 subjects comprised of Yi who practice Bimoism and Yi without a background in Bimoism. Explorative factor analyses results identified common facets across groups, and these facets could be formed into Stace’s three-factor structure in both groups. Comparing factor structure and ordering, the experience of transcendence for Yi who practice Bimoism is more extrovertive than for Yi who don’t practice Bimoism, whose experience is more introvertive. These results lend strong support to the thesis that the phenomenology of mystical experience reveals a common experiential core that can be discerned across religious and spiritual traditions. These data not only demonstrate that mystical experience is universal but also that sociocultural and religious tradition influence how people organize those universal experiences. Our current study also supports the commonality of Mysticism at facet level, and unique factor structure in different groups supports the claim that different groups have different ways of organizing mystical experiences in line with their own indigenous psychologies.