Psychology of Religion and Spirituality · 2015 · 67 citations · 43 references
HumanitiesCommunicationLinguisticsLinguistic AnthropologyMysticismPsychology Of ReligionMystical ExperienceReligious ExperienceReligious LanguageReligious Meaning-makingSpiritual ExperienceSpiritualityMystical WritingSpiritual Narratives
Mystical experiences are often described as ineffable, yet people readily speak about them when asked. The study investigates how people describe what is supposedly indescribable. The authors used quantitative linguistic analyses on writings from 777 participants who recounted their most significant spiritual or religious experience in an online survey. High and low scorers on a mystical experience measure differed in language use, with experiencers employing more socially and spatially inclusive terms and fewer overtly religious words, demonstrating that people can meaningfully communicate mystical experiences and that quantitative linguistic analysis can reveal aspects of them.
Mystical experiences are often described as “ineffable,” or beyond language. However, people readily speak about their mystical experiences if asked about them. How do people describe what is supposedly indescribable? In this study, we used quantitative linguistic analyses to interpret the writings of 777 participants (45.5% female, 51.0% male) who recounted their most significant spiritual or religious experience as part of an online survey. High and low scorers on a measure of mystical experiences differed in the language they used to describe their experiences. Participants who have had mystical experiences used language that was more socially and spatially inclusive (e.g., “close,” “we,” “with”) and used fewer overtly religious words (e.g., “prayed,” “Christ,” “church”) than participants without such experiences. Results indicated that people can meaningfully communicate their mystical experiences, and that quantitative language analyses provide a means for understanding aspects of such experiences.
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