The psychedelic personality: Personality structure and associations in a sample of psychedelics users
This survey (n=319) of psychedelic users measured personality traits using the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) and a simplified Risk Taking Index (RTI). The study finds participants scored higher than norms on all Big Five traits except Extraversion, and on all dimensions of risk-taking. Personality structure was linked to psychedelic experience characteristics such as feelings of fear, love, peace, and perceptions of contact with transcendent forces.
Authors
- Johnstad, P. G.
Published
Abstract
Research on the relationship between personality and psychedelics use has found evidence of a two-way influence where the personality structure predicts individual responses to psychedelics, and psychedelics use results in lasting changes to the individual’s personality structure. This study used brief personality measures in the form of the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) and a simplified version of the Risk Taking Index (RTI) in order to measure personality traits in a sample of psychedelics users (N = 319). The participants in the study scored consistently higher than norms on each of the Big Five traits except Extraversion, and on every dimension of risk taking in the RTI. In multivariate logistic regression analyses, personality structure was associated with characteristics of the psychedelic experience that included the feelings of fear, love, and peace as well as states of perceived contact with non-ordinary beings and transcendent forces.
Research Summary of 'The psychedelic personality: Personality structure and associations in a sample of psychedelics users'
Introduction
Earlier research has found a reciprocal relationship between personality and psychedelics use: pre-existing personality traits appear to shape acute responses to psychedelics, and psychedelic experiences may produce lasting changes in personality. Prior studies have repeatedly linked the Big Five trait Openness (and related constructs such as Absorption) to mystical-type and visual effects induced by serotonergic psychedelics, and some work has associated Neuroticism with more difficult experiences, although findings have been inconsistent. Other longitudinal and survey studies have reported post-use increases in Openness and, in some samples, shifts in Extraversion, Neuroticism, or Conscientiousness; however, results vary by drug, dose, sample and study design. This study set out to describe the personality structure of naturalistic psychedelics users and to examine how personality traits relate to aspects of their psychedelic use and phenomenology. Using brief measures of the Big Five and a condensed risk-taking index, the investigators compared participants' scores with population norms and tested whether personality dimensions and risk propensity were associated with usage patterns and specific emotional, cognitive and relational features of psychedelic sessions.
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Study Details
- Study Typeindividual
- Journal
- Topic
- APA Citation
Johnstad, P. G. (2021). The psychedelic personality: Personality structure and associations in a sample of psychedelics users. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 53(2), 97-103. https://doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2020.1842569
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Papers cited by this study that are also in Blossom
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Haijen, E. C. H. M., Kaelen, M., Roseman, L. et al. · Frontiers in Pharmacology (2018)
Johnstad, P. G. · Method and Theory in the Study of Religion (2020)
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Nour, M. R., Evans, J., Carhart-Harris, R. L. · Journal of Psychoactive Drugs (2017)
Schmid, Y., Liechti, M. E. · Psychopharmacology (2017)
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Smigielski, L., Kometer, M., Scheidegger, M. et al. · Scientific Reports (2019)
Studerus, E., Gamma, A., Kometer, M. et al. · PLOS ONE (2012)
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Kiraga, M. K., Kuypers, K. P. C., Uthaug, M. V. et al. · Frontiers in Psychiatry (2022)
Jones, G. M., Lipson, J., Nock, M. K. · Scientific Reports (2022)
Jones, G. M., Ricard, J. A., Lipson, J. et al. · Scientific Reports (2022)
Jones, G. M., Nock, M. K. · Scientific Reports (2022)
Johnstad, P. G. · Journal of Psychedelic Studies (2021)
Kiraga, M. K., Mason, N. L., Uthaug, M. V. et al. · Frontiers in Pharmacology (2021)
Johnstad, P. G. · Method and Theory in the Study of Religion (2020)
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