Investigating Mediumship/Possession-Relevant Experiences: Contributions from a Feature-Based, Subject-Dependent Approach to Definition and Measurement.
Non-ordinary experiences such as hearing voices, losing control over one's body or mediumship/possession, are observed across cultures. However, there is a notable lack of instruments specifically designed to measure these experiences from a subject-centered, culturally sensitive perspective, with e...
| Publicado en: | Transcultural Psychiatry Vol. 63; no. 4; pp. 347 - 367 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , , , , , |
| Formato: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Publicado: |
Sage Publications, Ltd.
Aug2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=195863840&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 195863840 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 13634615 3FX jtl: Transcultural Psychiatry issn: 13634615 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Aug2026 vid: 63 iid: 4 pid: 2171 pub: Sage Publications, Ltd. artinfo: ui: 195863840 195009018 195863840 195863840 10.1177/13634615261459751 195863840 ppf: 347 ppct: 20 formats: tig: atl: Investigating Mediumship/Possession-Relevant Experiences: Contributions from a Feature-Based, Subject-Dependent Approach to Definition and Measurement. aug: au: Maraldi, Everton De Oliveira Fischer, Ronald Varejão, Maria Vitoria De Lima Bortolini, Giovanna Novaes Bêta, Maria Clara Laport Hartle, Larissa Bortolini, Tiago Moll, Jorge affil: D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil sug: subj: Dissociative Disorders Epidemiology Parapsychology Religion and Psychology Mental Health Culture Funding Source Brazil Human Male Female Adult Middle Age Ethnological Research Cross Sectional Studies Qualitative Studies Snowball Sample Content Analysis Religious Personnel Focus Groups Interviews Questionnaires Scales Intraclass Correlation Coefficient Confidence Intervals Content Validity Reproducibility of Results Descriptive Statistics Adult: 19-44 years Middle Aged: 45-64 years Male Female ab: Non-ordinary experiences such as hearing voices, losing control over one's body or mediumship/possession, are observed across cultures. However, there is a notable lack of instruments specifically designed to measure these experiences from a subject-centered, culturally sensitive perspective, with existing measures offering limited coverage ofexperiences that may be particularly salient for religious groups cultivating mediumship/possession practices. This study proposes a novel, feature-based, subject-dependent approach to defining and measuring relevant mediumship/possession-like experiences, grounded in cross-culturally recognizable phenomenological features while respecting participants' culturally specific interpretations. Using Brazil as a case study, given its rich mediumship traditions, we developed and validated a new set of items that capture relevant experiences within mediumship/possession through a multi-step process informed by the Inventory of Non-Ordinary Experiences. Study 1 involved a systematic review of dissociation and mediumship research in Brazil to create an item pool. Study 2 refined these items with input from mediumship practitioners and religious leaders. Study 3 validated the items in a Brazilian population sample, and Study 4 estimated the prevalence of these experiences in a representative sample. The study validated 10 key features of mediumship/possession-relevant experiences and found high prevalence rates in Brazil, with some experiences reported by more than 60% of participants. Our findings highlight the importance of feature-based, culturally informed approaches to studying mediumship/possession and offer recommendations for future research into their phenomenology, prevalence, and cultural appraisals. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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