Observations placeholder
Out of body experiences and the ego
Identifier
006829
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Although the wording of this is enough to throw those who have out of body experiences into despair, the research must be the first that shows that you do not get an out of body experience if you have a massive ego.
Which probably explains why most researchers have never had out of body experiences - oops sorry a touch of cynicism.
I can answer his question for him too 'what psychological needs are served by the out of body' - none, they just happen.
A description of the experience
J Nerv Ment Dis. 1981 Apr;169(4):244-8. The psychological function of out-of-body experiences. So who needs the out-of-body experience? Irwin HJ.
What psychological needs are served by the out-of-body experience (OBE)?
On the basis of a review of the literature in rather diverse areas several hypotheses on this issue are formulated in terms of Murray's conceptual system of manifest needs.
A simple survey of the need profiles of students reporting OBEs provides support for only one of the hypotheses, namely, that such individuals are concerned with and attentive to their mental processes.
Unanticipated by the literature was the finding that people reporting OBEs exhibit low levels of need for achievement and need for deference.
If a sophisticated theory [sic] of the OBE is to be developed much more research must be conducted into the psychological, parapsychological, and neurophysiological correlates of the phenomenon.
PMID: 7217930