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The Varieties of Self-Transcendent Experience David Bryce Yaden, Jonathan Haidt, Ralph W

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The Varieties of Self-Transcendent Experience David Bryce Yaden, Jonathan Haidt, Ralph W Review of General Psychology The Varieties of Self-Transcendent Experience David Bryce Yaden, Jonathan Haidt, Ralph W. Hood, Jr., David R. Vago, and Andrew B. Newberg Online First Publication, May 1, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/gpr0000102 CITATION Yaden, D. B., Haidt, J., Hood, R. W., Jr., Vago, D. R., & Newberg, A. B. (2017, May 1). The Varieties of Self-Transcendent Experience. Review of General Psychology. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/gpr0000102 Review of General Psychology © 2017 American Psychological Association 2017, Vol. 0, No. 999, 000 1089-2680/17/$12.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/gpr0000102 The Varieties of Self-Transcendent Experience David Bryce Yaden Jonathan Haidt University of Pennsylvania New York University Ralph W. Hood Jr. David R. Vago University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Harvard Medical School Andrew B. Newberg Thomas Jefferson University Various forms of self-loss have been described as aspects of mental illness (e.g., depersonalization disorder), but might self-loss also be related to mental health? In this integrative review and proposed organizational framework, we focus on self-transcendent experiences (STEs)—transient mental states marked by decreased self-salience and increased feelings of connectedness. We first identify common psychological constructs that contain a self-transcendent aspect, including mindfulness, flow, peak experiences, mystical-type experiences, and certain positive emotions (e.g., love, awe). We then propose psychological and neurobiological mechanisms that may mediate the effects of STEs based on a review of the extant literature from social psychology, clinical psychology, and affective neuroscience. We conclude with future directions for further empirical research on these experiences. Keywords: self-transcendence, mindfulness, flow, positive emotions, awe . we can experience union with something larger than ourselves and and everyone), to states in between, like those experienced by in that union find our greatest peace. many people while meditating or when feeling awe. —(William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience) Consider the following accounts of STEs: Under certain circumstances, the subjective sense of one’s self I felt myself one with the grass, the trees, birds, insects, everything in as an isolated entity can temporarily fade into an experience of Nature. I exalted in the mere fact of existence, of being part of it all unity with other people or one’s surroundings, involving the dis- . I knew so well the satisfaction of losing self in a perception of solution of boundaries between the sense of self and “other.” Such supreme power and love . transient mental states of decreased self-salience and increased —(as quoted in James, 1985/1902, pp. 364–365) feelings of connectedness are described here as self-transcendent experiences (STEs). These temporary mental states are proposed to I lost the boundary to my physical body. I had my skin, of course, but be experienced along a spectrum of intensity that ranges from the I felt I was standing in the center of the cosmos. routine (e.g., losing yourself in music or a book), to the intense and —(as quoted in Watts, 1957, p. 121). potentially transformative (e.g., feeling connected to everything . I could no longer clearly discern the physical boundaries of where I began and where I ended. I sensed the composition of my being as that of a fluid rather than that of a solid. I no longer perceived myself as a whole object separate from everything. This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. —(Taylor, 2008, p. 42) This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual userDavid and is not to be disseminated broadly. Bryce Yaden, Department of Psychology, University of Pennsyl- vania; Jonathan Haidt, Stern School of Business, New York University; In each account, an aspect of consciousness usually taken for Ralph W. Hood Jr., Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee at granted—the sense of being a bounded, separate self—is conspic- Chattanooga; David R. Vago, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School; Andrew B. Newberg, Myrna Brind Center of Integrative uously absent. Each author (a Christian experiencing God’s pres- Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University. ence, a Buddhist experiencing enlightenment, and a secular neu- David R. Vago is now at Departments of Physical Medicine & Reha- roscientist having a stroke) describes fading self-boundaries and a bilitation, and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University sense of unity with other people and objects. Many similar de- Medical Center. scriptions can be found throughout history and across many cul- The authors would like to extend special thanks to Martin E. P. Selig- tures (Haidt, 2006, ch. 9; James, 1902; Newberg & d’Aquili, 2008; man, Britta Hölzel, and Mary Elizabeth Smith. Underhill, 1913; Yaden, McCall, & Ellens, 2015). STEs remain Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to David Bryce Yaden, Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, common, with around one third of people in samples from multiple 3701 Market Street Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19104. E-mail: cultures reporting intense experiences of unity with other people [email protected] and their surroundings (Hood, Hill, & Spilka, 2009, pp. 343–347). 1 2 YADEN ET AL. Variability in the intensity of perceived unity is apparent in Pathological manifestations of alterations to the sense of self several common psychological constructs that researchers have have been formalized within the dissociative cluster of the DSM as claimed contain degrees of self-transcendence. These “varieties of depersonalization disorder (Bernstein & Putnam, 1986; Simeon & self-transcendent experience” include: the states of mindfulness Abugel, 2006; Simeon et al., 2014), now referred to as deperson- (Davidson et al., 2003; Kabat-Zinn, 1994), flow (Csikszentmi- alization/derealization disorder (DDD) in the DSM-V. While a halyi, 1991), self-transcendent positive emotions such as love and technical definition of “the self” is not given in the DSM, the awe (Haidt, 2003; Haidt & Morris, 2009; Keltner & Haidt, 2003; feeling of an “unreal or absent self” is described as a primary Van Cappellen, & Rime, 2014), peak experiences (Maslow, 1964), symptom. Efforts to identify which particular aspects of the self and “mystical” experiences (Hood, 1975, 2003; James, 1902; are diminished in DDD have been attempted (Simeon et al., 2014); Newberg & d’Aquili, 2000). Each of these otherwise quite differ- yet, the DSM relies on the subjective report surrounding changes to ent constructs has been described in theoretical writing and in the sense of self that are nonspecific. psychometric scales as having aspects related to reduced self- Some experiences of self-loss may have a mix of positive and salience and/or enhanced connectedness. pathological aspects, which may sometimes require psychothera- The designation “self-transcendent experience” (STE) works peutic care (Lukoff, Lu, & Turner, 1992). However, our review best for our purposes because it captures a spectrum of intensities suggests that STEs are more often associated with positive out- in addition to remaining neutral regarding secular or spiritual comes such as well-being and prosocial behavior—and more in- connotations. However, empirical research on STEs is proceeding tense STEs are sometimes counted among life’s most meaningful under a number of different labels, including: hypoegoic states moments. We propose that a qualified consensus has emerged that, (Leary & Guadagno, 2011), transpersonal experiences (Grof, on the whole, Freud was wrong and James was right regarding the 1972; Tart, 2006), unitary experiences (Newberg & d’Aquili, positive psychological potential of STEs. 2000), quantum change (Miller & Bacag, 2001), religious experi- ences (James, 1902), spiritual experiences (Kass et al., 1991), Scope of STEs sacred moments (Lomax, Kripal, & Pargament, 2011), epiphanic experiences (Pawelski, 2007), ecstatic experiences (Laski, 1961), The “sense of self” we conceptualize as being transcended anomalous experiences (Cardena, Lynn, & Krippner, 2000), non- during STEs is not yet clear and likely involves multiple self- dual awareness (Josipovic, 2014) near death experiences (Black- related processes. In practical terms, we refer here to the “sense of more, 1996), mystical experiences (Hood et al., 2001; James, self” that is described by other researchers in both theoretical 1902; Newberg & d’Aquili, 2008; Wulff, 2000), and the closest to writings and scales used to measure self-transcendent constructs. a catch-all term “religious, spiritual, and mystical experiences” Generally, this notion of self-diminishment and/or connectedness (RSME; Beauregard, 2011)—among others (see Hood, Hill, & in the literature appears to be based first on phenomenological Spilka, 2009). Here, STE refers specifically to the aspects of reports and is then retained due to the predictive validity of decreased self-salience and increased feelings of connectedness to items in scales that refer to these subjective qualities. However, other people and one’s surroundings, though we acknowledge the particular aspects of the self that are altered in instances of overlap with many of the terms listed above. STE—whether it is self-awareness, self-appraisal, self-construal, Historically, James’s The Varieties of Religious Experience self-evaluation, self-perception,
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