Personality & Trait FactorsAyahuascaDMT

Examining changes in personality following shamanic ceremonial use of ayahuasca

This study of 256 participants across three ayahuasca centres found substantial reductions in Neuroticism after ceremonial ayahuasca use, evident in both self- and informant-reports at post-retreat and three-month follow-up. The degree of personality change was moderated by baseline personality, acute subjective experiences and purgative effects.

Authors

  • Brandon Weiss
  • William Keith Campbell

Published

Scientific Reports
individual Study

Abstract

The present study examines the association between the ceremonial use of ayahuasca—a decoction combining the Banistereopsis caapi vine and N,N-Dimethyltryptamine-containing plants—and changes in personality traits as conceived by the Five-Factor model (FFM). We also examine the degree to which demographic characteristics, baseline personality, and acute post-ayahuasca experiences affect personality change. Participants recruited from three ayahuasca healing and spiritual centers in South and Central America (N = 256) completed self-report measures of personality at three timepoints (Baseline, Post, 3-month Follow-up). Informant-report measures of the FFM were also obtained (N = 110). Linear mixed models were used to examine changes in personality and the moderation of those changes by covariates. The most pronounced change was a reduction in Neuroticism dz self-reportT1–T2 = − 1.00; dz self-reportT1–T3 = − .85; dz informant-reportT1–T3 = − .62), reflected in self- and informant-report data. Moderation of personality change by baseline personality, acute experiences, and purgative experiences was also observed.

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Research Summary of 'Examining changes in personality following shamanic ceremonial use of ayahuasca'

Introduction

Weiss and colleagues situate their study against renewed scientific and public interest in psychedelics, noting two parallel strands of work: laboratory-based clinical research on serotonergic psychedelics (e.g., psilocybin, LSD) and naturalistic investigations of shamanic medicines such as ayahuasca. They highlight prior, mixed evidence that single or short-course psychedelic experiences can sometimes produce durable changes on Five-Factor Model (FFM) personality traits—particularly decreases in Neuroticism and increases in Openness and Extraversion—but note methodological limitations in earlier work (small samples, lack of informant corroboration, few control conditions, and limited investigation of moderators). The ceremonial context of ayahuasca is emphasised as a potentially active element, encompassing group formats, shamanic guidance (e.g., icaro chants), purgative processes, and an ontological framework that frames healing in spiritual terms. The study’s primary aim was to prospectively examine personality change following ceremonial ayahuasca use and to test moderators of change. Specifically, the investigators assessed self- and informant-reported FFM traits at Baseline, immediately Post-retreat, and at a 3-month Follow-up, expecting decreases in Neuroticism and increases in Openness and Extraversion, and hypothesising that mystical-type experiences would amplify increases in Openness. They also aimed to evaluate the roles of predisposing characteristics (demographics, baseline personality), acute experiential variables (mystical-type states, reappraisal, discomfort), and ceremony-specific elements (purgative experiences, perceptions of the shaman and ritual) as moderators of any observed personality change.

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Study Details

References (27)

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