Diversity and similarity of near-death experiences across cultures and history: implications for the survival hypothesis.
International Review of Psychiatry 2025 DOI: 10.1080/09540261.2024.2402429 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Near-death experience |
| Keywords | Life after death Near-death experiences: ndes Afterlife concepts: afterlife Cultures Cultural context Religions Consciousness: consciousness Human experience |
| Citations | 3 |
| Key points | Argues that the diversity and similarity of near-death experiences across cultures and history raises implications for both survival and materialist hypotheses, and explores what kind of afterlife might be philosophically conceivable if NDEs reflect genuine afterlife experiences. |
Abstract
While accounts of near-death experiences (NDEs) are found around the world and throughout history, descriptions of the phenomenon vary widely. Whether arguing for or against the survival hypothesis, most scholarly and scientific discussions of NDEs are predicated on seeing them as either a universal human phenomenon or as an entirely culturally-constructed one. This article will discuss the implications for the survival hypothesis of historical and cross-cultural NDEs, in all their diversity and similarity. On the scientific level, it will consider how the apparent universality of NDEs can be been enlisted to support both survival and materialist hypotheses. On the metaphysical level, this chapter will explore what kind of afterlife might be philosophically conceivable if we were to accept NDE narratives as reflecting genuine afterlife experiences-particularly given all their diversity.
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 3
- Self-reported near-death and near-death-like experiences in a Chinese online sample: an exploratory mixed-methods study Frontiers in Psychology September 21, 2026
- Life after death and mind beyond the brain: Reflections and implications for aging. International Psychogeriatrics March 1, 2026
- Psychometric evaluation of the Danish Near-Death Experience Content (NDE-C) scale in a sample of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survivors medRxiv November 19, 2025
Cites 8
- Seeing Dead People Not Known to Have Died: “Peak in Darien” Experiences Anthropology & Humanism November 21, 2010
- Near-death and out-of-body experiences in a Melanesian society. Journal of Near-Death Studies 1983
- Precognitive and prophetic visions in near-death experiences. 1982
- Lucid dreams as one method of replicating components of the near-death experience in a laboratory setting. Journal of Near-Death Studies 1995
- Psychophysiological and cultural correlates undermining a survivalist interpretation of near-death experiences. Journal of Near-Death Studies 2007
and 3 more in the library