Consistency of Near-Death Experience Accounts over Two Decades: Are Reports Embellished over Time?
π Original study βπ Appears in:
Plain English Summary
Critics have long suspected that people who report near-death experiences (NDEs) gradually embellish their stories over time, making the whole field unreliable. Bruce Greyson put that idea to the test in a remarkably thorough way: he had 72 people fill out a standardized NDE questionnaire in the early 1980s, then tracked them down roughly 20 years later and had them fill it out again -- without peeking at their old answers. The result? Their scores were essentially identical, with a rock-solid correlation of 0.83. Even more striking, the feel-good parts of the experience actually dipped slightly rather than getting rosier. Published in the respected medical journal Resuscitation, this study is a big deal because it tells every other NDE researcher: yes, people's memories of these experiences hold up over decades.
Actual Paper Abstract
Aim: ''Near-death experiences,'' commonly reported after clinical death and resuscitation, may require intervention and, if reliable, may elucidate altered brain functioning under extreme stress. It has been speculated that accounts of near-death experiences are exaggerated over the years. The objective of this study was to test the reliability over two decades of accounts of near-death experiences. Methods: Seventy-two patients with near-death experience who had completed the NDE scale in the 1980s (63% of the original cohort still alive) completed the scale a second time, without reference to the original scale administration. The primary outcome was differences in NDE scale scores on the two administrations. The secondary outcome was the statistical association between differences in scores and years elapsed between the two administrations. Results: Mean scores did not change signiο¬cantly on the total NDE scale, its 4 factors, or its 16 items. Correlation coefο¬cients between scores on the two administrations were signiο¬cant at P < 0.001 for the total NDE scale, for its 4 factors, and for its 16 items. Correlation coefο¬cients between score changes and time elapsed between the two administrations were not signiο¬cant for the total NDE scale, for its 4 factors, or for its 16 items. Conclusion: Contrary to expectation, accounts of near-death experiences, and particularly reports of their positive affect, were not embellished over a period of almost two decades. These data support the reliability of near-death experience accounts.
Research Notes
First long-term (20-year) quantitative study of NDE memory reliability using the NDE Scale. From UVA Division of Perceptual Studies (DOPS). Published in a mainstream medical journal (Resuscitation), lending clinical credibility. Directly refutes the 'embellishment over time' criticism of retrospective NDE research. Key validation study for the entire NDE research field.
Longitudinal test-retest study of NDE memory reliability. 72 NDE experiencers (63% of 115 surviving original cohort) completed the NDE Scale in the early 1980s and again 2002-2005, mean interval 19.1 years (SD=2.4), without reference to original responses. Total NDE Scale scores unchanged: T1=14.60Β±6.97, T2=14.24Β±7.94, t(71)=0.69, p=0.49. Test-retest r=0.83 (p < 0.001) for total; all 4 factors and 16 items at p < 0.001. Score changes not correlated with time elapsed (r=-0.14, p=0.24). Contrary to embellishment hypothesis, positive affect reports showed nonsignificant decline. Published in Resuscitation.
Links
Related Papers
Cited By
- Seeing Dead People Not Known to Have Died: "Peak in Darien" Experiences β Greyson, Bruce (2010)
- Cosmological Implications of Near-Death Experiences β Greyson, Bruce (2011)
- Intensity and Memory Characteristics of Near-Death Experiences β Martial, Charlotte (2017)
- Epistemological Implications of Near-Death Experiences and Other Non-Ordinary Mental Expressions: Moving Beyond the Concept of Altered State of Consciousness β Facco, Enrico (2015)
- Explanation of Near-Death Experiences: A Systematic Analysis of Case Reports and Qualitative Research β Hashemi, Amirhossein (2023)
Companion
- Does the Arousal System Contribute to Near-Death and Out-of-Body Experiences? A Summary and Response β Long, Jeffrey (2007)
- Near-Death Experiences in Non-Life-Threatening Events and Coma of Different Etiologies β Charland-Verville, V (2014)
- Characteristics of Memories for Near-Death Experiences β Moore, L.E (2017)
- Near-Death Experience, Consciousness, and the Brain: A New Concept About the Continuity of Our Consciousness Based on Recent Scientific Research on Near-Death Experience in Survivors of Cardiac Arrest β van Lommel, Pim (2006)
Same Research Program
- Near-Death Experience in Survivors of Cardiac Arrest: A Prospective Study in the Netherlands β van Lommel, Pim (2001)
- Incidence and Correlates of Near-Death Experiences in a Cardiac Care Unit β Greyson, Bruce (2003)
- Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms Following Near-Death Experiences β Greyson, Bruce (2001)
- Near-Death Experiences with Reports of Meeting Deceased People β Kelly, Emily Williams (2001)
Also by these authors
More in Nde
The Central Clinical Relevance of Near-Death Experiences in Acute Care Contexts
Neuro-Functional Modeling of Near-Death Experiences in Contexts of Altered States of Consciousness
AWAreness during REsuscitation - II: A Multi-Center Study of Consciousness and Awareness in Cardiac Arrest
Which Near-Death Experience Features Are Associated with Reduced Fear of Death?
Advancing the Evidence for Survival of Consciousness
π Cite this paper
Greyson, Bruce (2007). Consistency of Near-Death Experience Accounts over Two Decades: Are Reports Embellished over Time?. Resuscitation. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resuscitation.2006.10.013
@article{greyson_2007_consistency_nde,
title = {Consistency of Near-Death Experience Accounts over Two Decades: Are Reports Embellished over Time?},
author = {Greyson, Bruce},
year = {2007},
journal = {Resuscitation},
doi = {10.1016/j.resuscitation.2006.10.013},
}