Dissociation : Vol. 4, No. 2 (June 1991)

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    Dissociation : Vol. 4, No. 2, p. 083-091 : A study of the correlations between subjective psychic experiences and dissociative experiences
    (Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Multiple Personality and Dissociation, 1991-06) Richards, Douglas G.
    A variety of subjective "psychic" experiences, such as telepathy, clairvoyance, and out-of-body experiences, are often reported in conjunction with dissociative experiences. This study looked at the relationship between the Dissociative Experiences, Scale (DES) and a variety of psychic experiences in a non-clinical adult population with a high level of psychic experiences. The DES was correlated moderately (Pearson 's r from . 3 to .4) with most but not all of the experiences. The mean DES score was 17.2 (SD = 12.5), and the median was 14.1, substantially above the norm for adults. The correlations with a measure of affect, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedules (PANAS), were low for both positive and negative affect, and the means for affect were similar to the means for the general population. Eighty-one point five percent of the subjects felt that their psychic experiences had had a positive or inspirational effect on their lives. When taken in conjunction with other surveys of the general population, this study confirms that psychic experiences are a common occurrence in non-clinical populations, and that, although they are correlated with dissociation, they are not necessarily associated with pathology.