Do Psychedelics Change Beliefs?
The review argues that psychedelics rarely induce wholly new beliefs but instead alter how affective states and social suggestions shape the attribution and updating of beliefs, with individuals’ baseline beliefs moderating both acute and long-term effects. The authors emphasise that these mechanisms must be tested empirically if psychedelics are to be harnessed safely and effectively in clinical and wellbeing contexts.
Abstract
Renewed interest in psychedelics has reignited the debate about whether and how they change human beliefs. In both the clinical and social-cognitive domains, psychedelic consumption may be accompanied by profound, and sometimes lasting, belief changes. We review these changes and their possible underlying mechanisms. Rather than inducing de novo beliefs, we argue psychedelics may instead change the impact of affect and of others’ suggestions on how beliefs are imputed. Critically, we find that baseline beliefs (in the possible effects of psychedelics, for example) might color the acute effects of psychedelics as well as longer term changes. If we are to harness the apparent potential of psychedelics in the clinic and for human flourishing more generally, these possibilities must be addressed empirically.
Research Summary of 'Do Psychedelics Change Beliefs?'
Introduction
The paper opens by noting renewed scientific and public interest in psychedelics alongside longstanding debates about whether and how these substances change human beliefs. The authors frame belief change as a multifaceted question: reports of profound, sometimes lasting changes in religious, political and self-related beliefs exist, but such changes could arise through multiple pathways including expectancy effects, social suggestion, and selection biases among research participants. Mcgovern and colleagues set out to unpack existing findings on belief change after psychedelic consumption and to clarify the mechanisms that might underlie those changes. They aim to define what counts as a belief, distinguish alternative conceptualisations (propositional attitudes, associative representations, and inferential/learning-based models), and to assess, against those definitions, whether acute or longer-term psychedelic exposure produces genuine belief change. The authors emphasise caution: apparent belief changes may reflect pre-existing expectations or social influences rather than pharmacologically induced formation of new propositional beliefs.
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Study Details
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- APA Citation
McGovern, H., Leptourgos, P., Hutchinson, B., & Corlett, P. R. (2021). Do Psychedelics Change Beliefs?. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/3dc2h
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