Skip to content

Cross-cultural measurement of experience: Taiwanese and Americans' peak performance, peak experience, misery, failure, sport, and average events.

Gayle Privette, K K Hwang, Charles M. Bundrick

Perceptual and Motor Skills June 1997 DOI: 10.2466/pms.1997.84.3c.1459 (opens in new tab)

Read Full Text
Relevant Not relevant

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Cross-cultural questionnaire study Peer reviewed
Sample size 279
Population Taiwanese and American university students or adults describing personal experiential events
Measures Experience Questionnaire
Topics Mystical experience
Key points Both Taiwanese and American participants characterized peak performance as full focus with clarity of self in process. Taiwanese considered failure more significant than Americans, while Americans denied clarity of self in misery and failure and more generally endorsed peak experience. The authors argue that experiential events can simultaneously show cross-cultural generality and culturally sensitive inner processes.

Abstract

To compare Taiwanese and Americans on selected experiential personality dimensions, the Experience Questionnaire was translated and tested with 27 Taiwanese in an American university. Descriptions by 129 Taiwanese of peak performance, peak experience, misery, failure, sport, and average events were compared with those made by 123 Americans. Analysis of variance with repeated measures of factors indicated that both samples uniformly characterized processes of peak performance as full focus with clarity of self in process. The Taiwanese considered failure more significant than the Americans who denied clarity of self in misery and failure and more generally endorsed peak experience than the Taiwanese. The study extends the credibility of experience: experiential events can simultaneously have cross-cultural generality and inner processes that are culturally sensitive.

Comparable studies

Other cross-sectional and survey studies on mystical experience, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Of Roots and Fruits: A Comparison of Psychedelic and Nonpsychedelic Mystical Experiences Self-selected participants who reported a religious, spiritual, or mystical experience 2016 Cross-sectional survey n = 739
Illicit Use of LSD or Psilocybin, but not MDMA or Nonpsychedelic Drugs, is Associated with Mystical Experiences in a Dose-Dependent Manner Adults recruited from the MAPS website and newsletter, most reporting use of various... 2012 Cross-sectional survey n = 337
Peak Experiences: Some Empirical Tests Random sample of adults in the San Francisco Bay Area 1978 Cross-sectional survey
Peak Experience Tendencies 1982 Cross-sectional survey
Rhythmic Chanting and Mystical States across Traditions. Regular chanters across 33 countries 2021 Cross-sectional survey n = 464

Citations in the library

Cites 5

Related reading

Explore topics

Mystical experience