Two studies are reported in which participants’ reports of altered states of consciousness (ASC) were manipulated using priming methods. Study 1 used both subtle and blunt supraliminal priming methods, while Study 2 used a subliminal priming method. Across the two studies, two different methods for inducing ASC were used. In both studies a direct and an indirect measure of ASC was employed in order to separate the more nonconscious and spontaneous (indirect) from the more conscious and directive (direct) reports of ASC. As predicted, results indicated that the indirect measures of ASC were consistent with the ASC primes participants received. Implications and future research directions are discussed.
BarghJ.A. & ChartrandT.L. (2000): The mind in the middle: A practical guide to priming and automaticity research. In ReisH.T. & JuddC. M., editors, Handbook of research methods in social and personality psychology.New York: Cambridge University Press.
2.
BelzenJ.A. & HoodR.W.Jr. (2006): Methodological issues in the psychology of religion: Toward another paradigm? The Journal of Psychology, 140, 5–28.
3.
BowenJ.R. (1998): Religions in practice: An approach to the anthropology of religion.Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
4.
CesarioJ.PlaksJ.E. & HigginsE.T. (2006): Automatic social behavior as motivated preparation to interact. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 893–910.
5.
de MelloA. (1984): Sadhana: A way to God.New York: Image Books.
6.
DijksterhuisA.ChartrandT.L. & AartsH. (2007): Effects of priming and perception on social behavior and goal pursuit. In: BarghJ.A., editor, Social psychology and the unconscious: The automaticity of higher mental processes.New York: Psychology Press.
7.
FazioR.H. & OlsonM.A. (2003): Implicit measures in social cognition research: Their meaning and use. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 297–327.
8.
FormanR. (1998): Introduction: Mystical consciousness, the innate capacity, and the perennial philosophy. In: FormanR., editor, The innate capacity: Mysticism, psychology, and philosophy.New York: Oxford.
9.
FreemanM. (2003): The priority of the other: Mysticism's challenge to the legacy of the self. In: BelzenJ.A. & GeelsA., editors, Mysticism: A variety of psychological perspectives.Amsterdam: Rodopi.
10.
GeelsA. (2003): Transforming moments—a psychological perspective on religious visions: Contemporary and historical cases. In: BelzenJ.A. & GeelsA., editors, Mysticism: A variety of psychological perspectives.Amsterdam: Rodopi.
11.
GlaserJ. & KihlstromJ.F. (2005): Compensatory automaticity: Unconscious volition is not an oxymoron. In HassinR., UlemanJ.S. & BarghJ.A., editors, The new unconscious.Oxford: Oxford University Press.
12.
GorsuchR.L. & McPhersonS.E.1989: Intrinsic/extrinsic measurement: I/E-revised and single-item scales. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 28, 348–354.
13.
HillP.C. (1994): Toward an attitude process model of religious experience. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 33, 303–314.
14.
HillP.C. & HoodR.W.Jr. (1999): Affect, religion, and unconscious processes. Journal of Personality, 67, 1015–1046.
15.
HoodR.W.Jr., (1975): The construction and preliminary validation of a measure of reported mystical experience. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 14, 29–41.
16.
HoodR.W.Jr., (2001): Dimensions of mystical experiences.Amsterdam: Rodopi.
17.
HoodR.W.Jr., (2002): The mystical self: Lost and found. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 12, 1–14.
18.
HoodR.WJr., (2003): Conceptual and empirical consequences of the unity thesis. In: BelzenJ. A. & GeelsA., editors, Mysticism: A variety of psychological perspectives.Amsterdam: Rodopi.
19.
HoodR.WJr. (2006): The common core thesis in the study of mysticism. In: McNamara, P., editor, Where God and science meet: How brain and evolutionary studies alter our understanding of religion (Vol. 3). Westport, CT: Praeger/Greenwood Publishing.
20.
HoodR.W.Jr. & MorrisR. (1981): Sensory isolation and the differential elicitation of religious imagery in intrinsic and extrinsic persons. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 20, 261–273.
21.
HoodR.WJr.MorrisR. J. & WatsonP. J. (1990): Quasi-experimental elicitation of differential report of religious experience among intrinsic and indiscriminately pro-religious types. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 29, 164–172.
22.
HoustonJ. & MastersR. (1972): The experimental induction of religious-type experiences. In White, J., editor, The highest state of consciousness.Oxford, England: Doubleday/Anchor.
23.
HurtS.ReznikoffM. & ClarkinJ. (1995): The Rorschach. In: BeutlerL. & BerrenM., editors, Integrative assessment of adult personality.New York: Guilford Press.
24.
Jonte-PaceD. (2003): The Swami and the Rorschach: Spiritual practice, religious experience, and perception. In: BelzenJ.A. & GeelsA., editors, Mysticism: A variety of psychological perspectives.Amsterdam: Rodopi.
25.
KatzR. (1982): Boiling energy: Community healing among the Kalahari Kung.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
26.
KihlstromJ.F.BarnhardtT.M. & TatarynD. J. (1992): Implicit perception. In: BornsteinR.F. & PittmanT.S., editors, Perception without awareness: Cognitive, clinical, and social perspectives.New York: Guilford Press.
27.
LettJ. (1999): Science, religion, and anthropology. In: GlazierS.D., editor, Anthropology of religion: A handbook.Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
28.
LillyJ.C. (1977): The deep self: Profound relaxation and the tank isolation technique.New York: Simon and Schuster.
29.
MastersR. & HoustonJ. (1973): Subjective realities. In: Schwartz, B., editor, Human connection and the new media.Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
30.
MoorsA. & De HouwerJ. (2006): Automaticity: A theoretical and conceptual analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 297–326.
31.
Randolph-SengB. & NielsenM.E. (2007): Honesty: One effect of primed religious representations. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 17, 303–315.
32.
Randolph-SengB. & NielsenM.E., (2008): Is God really watching you? A response to Shariff and Norenzayan (2007). The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 18, 199–122.
33.
ReingoldE.M. & MerikleP.M. (1993): Theory and measurement in the study of unconscious processes. In: DaviesM. & HumphreysG.W editors, Consciousness: Psychological andphilosophical essays.Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
34.
SchwartzK. (1985): The male member.New York: Silver Burdett.
35.
TaylorE. (2003): Some vicissitudes of constructing a cross-cultural comparative psychology of mystical states. In: BelzenJ.A. & GeelsA., editors, Mysticism: A variety of psychological perspectives.Amsterdam: Rodopi.
36.
VaitlD. (2005): Psychobiology of altered states of consciousness. Psychological Bulletin, 131, 98–127.
37.
WengerJ.L. (2007): The implicit nature of intrinsic religious pursuit. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 17, 47–60.
38.
WeitenW. & LloydM. (1997): Psychology applied to modern life (5th ed.).Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
39.
WiersR.W. & StacyA.W. (2006): Implicit cognition and addiction: An introduction. In: WiersR.W. & StacyA.W., editors, Handbook of implicit cognition and addiction.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing.
40.
WulffD.1997: The psychology of religion: Classic and contemporary (2nd ed.).New York: Wiley.
