Skip to content

The Near-Death Experience: Knowledge and Attitudes of College Students

Kay E. Ketzenberger, G. Keim

Journal of Near-Death Studies June 1, 2001 DOI: 10.1023/a:1007811108109 (opens in new tab)

Read Full Text
Relevant Not relevant

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Observational cohort Peer reviewed
Population Undergraduate students with a mean age of 32 years who have not had an NDE
Measures Near-Death Phenomena Knowledge and Attitudes Questionnaire
Topics Near-death experience
Key findings Knowledge about NDEs significantly predicted attitudes toward them, accounting for 34 percent of the common variance, with both knowledge and attitudes normally distributed.

Abstract

There is a considerable literature documenting the effects of a near-death experience (NDE) on persons who actually undergo the experience, in terms of their attitudes and opinions about NDEs. However, investigations of how much nonexperiencers know about NDEs and their attitudes towards them are in short supply. This study examined the relationship in people who have not had an NDE between attitudes toward and knowledge of near-death experiences. Subjects were undergraduate students, with a mean age of 32 years. The Near-Death Phenomena Knowledge and Attitudes Questionnaire was employed to assess attitudes toward and knowledge of NDEs. Results indicated that both knowledge and attitudes were relatively normally distributed, and that level of knowledge significantly predicted attitudes towards NDEs, accounting for 34 percent of the common variance.

Comparable studies

Other observational and cohort studies on near-death experience, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: a prospective study in the Netherlands Cardiac patients successfully resuscitated after cardiac arrest in ten Dutch hospitals 2001 Prospective cohort study n = 344
Incidence and correlates of near-death experiences in a cardiac care unit Cardiac inpatients at a tertiary care center 2003 Observational cohort n = 1,595
Features of "near-death experience" in relation to whether or not patients were near death Patients who believed they were near death during an illness or after an injury and... 1990 Observational cohort n = 58
The phenomenology of near-death experiences Subjects who reported near-death experiences 1980 Retrospective study n = 78
Near-Death Experiences and the Temporal Lobe Individuals who reported having had a near-death experience during a life-threatening... 2004 Observational cohort

Citations in the library

Cites 5

Related reading

Explore topics

Near-death experience