Self-Actualization and the Integration of Psychedelic Experience: The Mediating Role of Perceived Benefits to Narrative Self-Functioning
Using cross-sectional data from roughly 750 participants, the study found that perceived benefits to narrative self‑functioning (self‑insight and personal development) mediated the relationship between extent of post‑psychedelic integration and optimal well‑being (self‑actualisation) across clinical and non‑clinical groups, with self‑referential integration techniques showing the strongest indirect effects. These results offer a preliminary eudaimonic model linking integration to well‑being but are correlational and require longitudinal testing to establish causality.
Authors
- Amada, N.
- Shane, J.
Published
Abstract
There is a growing need in the field of psychedelic science for a unifying perspective of overall well-being to join seemingly disparate findings across clinical and non-clinical populations, and account for the unique role of post-psychedelic integration for promoting benefits. According to the eudaimonic perspective of well-being, the stories we create about who we are (self-insight) and who we can become (personal development) are key aspects of narrative self-functioning that either constrain or facilitate well-being. The present paper draws upon this perspective to investigate the relationship between extent of post-psychedelic integration and optimal well-being ( self-actualization), with perceived benefits to narrative self-functioning ( self-insight and personal development) as a mediator. The data for testing this model was collected from roughly 750 participants recruited from websites and social media forums. Because the sample contained clinical and non-clinical individuals, the model was able to be tested with mental health condition as a moderator. Results indicated that perceived benefits to narrative self-functioning is one pathway through which integration of psychedelic experience may promote optimal well-being for both clinical and non-clinical populations. Exploratory analyses indicated that integration techniques that are more self-referential in nature are the ones that indirectly relate to optimal well-being via perceived benefits. The results of the present study should be interpreted as a preliminary model for future longitudinal research to test, as our cross-sectional methods preclude any causal inferences to be made from these mediation analyses.
Research Summary of 'Self-Actualization and the Integration of Psychedelic Experience: The Mediating Role of Perceived Benefits to Narrative Self-Functioning'
Introduction
Psychedelic research increasingly documents psychological benefits in both clinical and non-clinical populations, yet findings come from diverse outcome frameworks that are difficult to unify. The authors situate their work within a eudaimonic perspective of well-being, which emphasises narrative self-functioning—how people construct stories about who they are (self-insight) and who they might become (personal development)—as central to achieving optimal well-being or self-actualization. They argue that psychedelic experiences, particularly those involving ego-dissolution or self-transcendence, temporarily loosen entrenched self-referential patterns and therefore create an opportunity for lasting narrative change; post-psychedelic integration is presented as the clinical and informal process by which such changes may be consolidated. This study set out to test a preliminary structural model linking the extent of post-psychedelic integration to self-actualization, with perceived benefits to narrative self-functioning (self-insight and personal development) specified as a mediator. Integration was hypothesised to be a stronger predictor of perceived narrative benefits than mere frequency or duration of psychedelic use, and mental health status (current, past, or never diagnosed) was tested as a moderator. Because no established measure of integration existed, the investigators developed a novel integration scale and used cross-sectional survey data to evaluate these relationships as a foundation for future longitudinal work.
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Study Details
- Study Typeindividual
- Journal
- APA Citation
Amada, N., & Shane, J. (2022). Self-Actualization and the Integration of Psychedelic Experience: The Mediating Role of Perceived Benefits to Narrative Self-Functioning. Journal of Humanistic Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177/00221678221099680
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