Personality of Healthy Young Adults with Sleep Paralysis
Kazuhiko Fukuda, Nobuo Inamatsu, Makoto Kuroiwa, Akio Miyasita
Perceptual and Motor Skills December 1, 1991 DOI: 10.2466/pms.1991.73.3.955 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Case-control study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | People who had experienced sleep paralysis (kanashibari), compared with people who had not |
| Measures | MMPI Paranoia Scale, Maudsley Personality Inventory |
| Citations | 19 |
| Key findings | People reporting sleep paralysis showed a slightly higher mean T score on the MMPI Paranoia Scale than those without the experience. The authors argue this difference is probably too small to play a major role in the phenomenon, and that it is unlikely the experiences caused paranoid behavior, since episodes were very few; some participants may have overestimated their delusions and hallucinations. |
Abstract
Sleep paralysis occurs in normal persons. This phenomenon had been studied psychoanalytically or in terms of the deviation of the victims' personality. This present study aimed to assess the personalities of such persons by using the MMPI and the Maudsley Personality Inventory. The subjects showed a slightly higher mean T score on the MMPI Paranoia Scale than those who did not have this experience. Although this personality difference might be related to the occurrence of the phenomenon, this difference is probably too small to take a major role. It is unlikely that the subjects developed paranoic behavior through their experiences of sleep paralysis, since their experiences were very few. Some of the subjects might have only overestimated their behavior and experiences concerning delusions and hallucinations, with the result that their Paranoia scores were higher and perhaps their kanashibari experiences exaggerated.