Near-death experiences (NDE) are intense events that can have profound psychological consequences. Although decreased fear of death after an NDE is a well-documented phenomenon, it is unclear what psychological factors are associated with reduced death anxiety. In this study, grounded in terror management theory, we compared 102 people who had an NDE with 104 individuals who did not. Participants completed measures of death anxiety, self-esteem, mindfulness, and death representation. Results indicated that people who had an NDE had lower fear of death, higher self-esteem, greater mindfulness, and viewed death more as a transition rather than as absolute annihilation. Subsequent analyses found that NDE had a direct effect on death anxiety, and that the effect of NDE on death anxiety was also mediated by indirect effects on self-esteem and death representation. Implications of these findings are considered, limitations of the present study are acknowledged, and suggestions for future theory and research are proffered.
AgrilloC. (2011). Near-death experience: Out-of-body and out-of-brain?Review of General Psychology, 15, 1-10.
2.
BaerR. A.SmithG. T.HopkinsJ.KrietemeyerJ.ToneyL. (2006). Using self-report assessment methods to explore facets of mindfulness. Assessment, 13, 27-45.
3.
BeauregardM.CourtemancheJ.PaquetteV. (2009). Brain activity in near-death experiencers during a meditative state. Resuscitation, 80, 1006-1010.
4.
BelantiJ.PereraM.JagadheesanK. (2008). Phenomenology of near-death experiences: A cross-cultural perspective. Transcultural Psychiatry, 45, 121-133.
5.
BeckerE. (1962). The birth and death of meaning. New York, NY: Free Press.
6.
BeckerE. (1973). The denial of death. New York, NY: Free Press.
7.
BeckerE. (1975). Escape from evil. New York, NY: Free Press.
8.
Ben-AriO. T.FlorianV.MikulincerM. (1999). The impact of mortality salience on reckless driving: A test of terror management mechanisms. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 35-45.
9.
BiancoS.SambinM.PalmieriA. (2017). Meaning making after a near-death experience: The relevance of intrapsychic and interpersonal dynamics. Death Studies, 41, 562-573.
10.
BonenfantR. J. (2001). A child’s encounter with the devil: An unusual near-death experience with both blissful and frightening elements. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 20, 87-100.
11.
BrownK. W.RyanR. M. (2003). The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 822-848.
12.
BurkeB. L.MartensA.FaucherE. H. (2010). Two decades of terror management theory: A meta-analysis of mortality salience research. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 14, 155-195.
13.
Charland-VervilleV.JourdanJ. P.ThonnardM.LedouxD.DonneauA. F.QuertemontE.LaureysS. (2014). Near-death experiences in non-life-threatening events and coma of different etiologies. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, 203. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2014.00203
14.
CicirelliV. G. (2006). Fear of death in mid-old age. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 61(2), P75-P81.
15.
ClementsR.RoodaL. A. (2000). Factor structure, reliability, and validity of the death attitude profile-revised. OMEGA: Journal of Death and Dying, 40, 453-463.
16.
CoffeyK. A.HartmanM.FredricksonB. L. (2010). Deconstructing mindfulness and constructing mental health: Understanding mindfulness and its mechanisms of action. Mindfulness, 1, 235-253.
17.
CohenF.SullivanD.SolomonS.GreenbergJ.OgilvieD. M. (2010). Finding everland: Flight fantasies and the desire to transcend mortality. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 88-102. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2010.08.013
18.
CorazzaO. (2008). Near-death experiences: Exploring the mind-body connection. New York, NY: Routledge.
19.
CozzolinoP. J.StaplesA. D.MeyersL. S.SambocetiJ. (2004). Greed, death, and values: From terror management to transcendence management theory. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 278-292.
20.
DechesneM.PyszczynskiT.ArndtJ.RansomS.SheldonK. M.van KnippenbergA.JanssenJ. (2003). Literal and symbolic immortality: The effect of evidence of literal immortality on self-esteem striving in response to mortality salience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 722-737. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.84.4.722
21.
FaccoE.AgrilloC. (2012). Near-death-like experiences without life-threatening conditions or brain disorders: A hypothesis from a case report. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 490. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00490
22.
FenwickP. (2012). Can near death experiences contribute to the debate on consciousness? In AlexanderM. A.FranklinS. S. (Eds.), Exploring frontiers of the mind-brain relationship (pp. 143-163). New York, NY: Springer.
23.
FlynnC. P. (1986). After the beyond: Human transformation and the near-death experience. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
24.
GabbardG. O.TwemlowS. W. (1991). Do “near-death experiences” occur only near death? Revisited. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 10, 41-47.
25.
GesserG.WongP. T.RekerG. T. (1988). Death attitudes across the life-span: The development and validation of the Death Attitude Profile (DAP). OMEGA: Journal of Death and Dying, 18, 113-128.
26.
GoldenbergJ. L.PyszczynskiT.McCoyS. K.GreenbergJ.SolomonS. (1999). Death, sex, love, and neuroticism: Why is sex such a problem?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 1173-1187.
27.
GreenbergJ.PyszczynskiT.SolomonS. (1986). The causes and consequences of a need for self-esteem: A terror management theory. In BaumeisterR. F. (Ed.), Public self and private self (pp. 189-212). New York, NY: Springer.
28.
GreenbergJ.PyszczynskiT.SolomonS.RosenblattA.VeederM.KirklandS.LyonD. (1990). Evidence for terror management theory II: The effects of mortality salience on reactions to those who threaten or bolster the cultural worldview. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 308-318.
29.
GreenbergJ.SolomonS.PyszczynskiT.RosenblattA.BurlingJ.LyonD.. . . PinelE. (1992). Why do people need self-esteem? Converging evidence that self-esteem serves an anxiety-buffering function. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 913-922. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.63.6.913
30.
GreysonB. (1983). The Near-Death Experience Scale: Construction, reliability, and validity. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 171, 369-375.
31.
GreysonB. (1992). Reduced death threat in near-death experiencers. Death Studies, 16, 523-536.
32.
GreysonB. (1994). Near-death experiences and satisfaction with life. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 13, 103-103.
33.
GreysonB. (2000). Dissociation in people who have near-death experiences: Out of their bodies or out of their minds?Lancet, 355, 460-463.
34.
GreysonB. (2003). Incidence and correlates of near-death experiences in a cardiac care unit. General Hospital Psychiatry, 25, 269-276.
GreysonB.BushN. E. (1992). Distressing near-death experiences. Psychiatry, 55, 95-110.
38.
GreysonB.BushN. E. (1996). Distressing near-death experiences. In BaileyL. W.YatesJ. (Eds.), The near-death experience: A reader (pp. 207-230). New York, NY: Routledge.
39.
GreysonB.KhannaS. (2014). Spiritual transformation after near-death experiences. Spirituality in Clinical Practice, 1, 43-55.
40.
GreysonB.StevensonI. (1980). The phenomenology of near-death experiences. American Journal of Psychiatry, 137, 1193-1196.
41.
Groth-MarnatG.SummersR. (1998). Altered beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors following near-death experiences. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 38, 110-125.
42.
Harmon-JonesE.SimonL.GreenbergJ.PyszczynskiT.SolomonS.McGregorH. (1997). Terror management theory and self-esteem: Evidence that increased self-esteem reduced mortality salience effects. Journal of Personality and Social psychology, 72, 24-36.
43.
HayesA. F. (2017). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
44.
KellehearA. (2009). Census of non-Western near-death experiences to 2005: Observations and critical reflections. In HoldenJ. M.GreysonB.JamesD. (Eds.), The handbook of near-death experiences: Thirty years of investigation (pp. 135-158). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger/ABC-CLIO.
45.
KellyE. W. (2001). Near-death experiences with reports of meeting deceased people. Death Studies, 25, 229-249.
46.
KriegerS. R.EptingF. R.LeitnerL. M. (1975). Personal constructs, threat and attitudes toward death. OMEGA: Journal of Death and Dying, 5, 299-310.
47.
LehtoR. H.SteinK. F. (2009). Death anxiety: An analysis of an evolving concept. Research and Theory for Nursing Practice, 23(1), 23-41.
48.
LiftonR. J. (1973). The sense of immortality: On death and the continuity of life. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 33(1), 3-15.
49.
MoodyR. (1975). Life after death. Atlanta, GA: Mockingbird Books.
50.
MorrisL. L.KnaflK. (2003). The nature and meaning of the near-death experience for patients and critical care nurses. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 21, 139-167.
51.
MorseM.PerryP. (1992). Transformed by the light: The powerful effects of near-death experiences on people’s lives. New York, NY: Villard.
52.
NeimeyerR. A.EptingF. R.RigdonM. A. (1983). A procedure manual for the threat index. Death Education, 7, 321-327.
53.
NiemiecC. P.BrownK. W.KashdanT. B.CozzolinoP. J.BreenW. E.Levesque-BristolC.RyanR. M. (2010). Being present in the face of existential threat: The role of trait mindfulness in reducing defensive responses to mortality salience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99, 344-365.
54.
NoyesR.FenwickP.HoldenJ. M.ChristianS. R. (2009). Aftereffects of pleasurable Western adult near-death experiences. In HoldenJ. M.GreysonB.JamesD. (Eds.), The handbook of near-death experiences: Thirty years of investigation (pp. 41-62). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger/ABC-CLIO.
55.
OgilvieD. M. (2004). Fantasies of flight. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
56.
OwensJ.CookE. W.StevensonI. (1990). Features of “near-death experience” in relation to whether or not patients were near death. Lancet, 336, 1175-1177.
57.
PalmieriA.CalvoV.KleinbubJ. R.MeconiF.MarangoniM.BarilaroP.. . . SessaP. (2014). “Reality” of near-death-experience memories: Evidence from a psychodynamic and electrophysiological integrated study. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, 429. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2014.00429
58.
PyszczynskiT.GreenbergJ.SolomonS.ArndtJ.SchimelJ. (2004). Why do people need self-esteem? A theoretical and empirical review. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 435-468.
59.
PyszczynskiT.SolomonS.GreenbergJ. (2015). Thirty years of terror management theory: From genesis to revelation. In ZannaM.OlsonJ. (Eds.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 52, pp. 1-70). Waltham, MA: Academic Press.
60.
RasmussenM. K.PidgeonA. M. (2011). The direct and indirect benefits of dispositional mindfulness on self-esteem and social anxiety. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 24, 227-233.
61.
RingK. (1984). Heading toward omega: In search of the meaning of the near-death experience. New York, NY: Coward, McCann and Geoghegan.
62.
RommerB. (2000). Blessing in disguise: Another side of the near-death experience. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn.
63.
RosenbergM. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
64.
SabomM. B. (1982). Recollections of death: A medical investigation. New York, NY: Harper & Row.
65.
SolomonS.GreenbergJ.PyszczynskiT. (2015). The worm at the core: On the role of death in life. New York, NY: Random House.
66.
SolomonS.GreenbergJ.PyszczynskiT.CohenF.OgilvieD. (2008). Teach these souls to fly: Supernatural as human adaptation. In SchallerM.NorenzayanA.HeineS.YamagishiT.KamedaT. (Eds.), Evolution, culture, and the human mind (pp. 99-118). New York, NY: Psychology Press.
67.
SutherlandC. (1992). Transformed by the light: Life after near-death experiences. New York, NY: Bantam Books.
68.
Tassell-MatamuaN. A.LindsayN. (2016). “I’m not afraid to die”: The loss of the fear of death after a near-death experience. Mortality, 21, 71-87.
69.
TestoniI.AnconaD.RonconiL. (2015). The ontological representation of death: A scale to measure the idea of annihilation versus passage. OMEGA: Journal of Death and Dying, 71, 60-81.
70.
TestoniI.FaccoE.PereldaF. (2017). Toward a new eternalist paradigm for afterlife studies: The case of the near-death experiences argument. World Futures, 73, 442-456. doi:10.1080/02604027.2017.1357935
71.
van LommelP. (2010). Consciousness beyond life: The science of the near-death experience. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
72.
van LommelP.van WeesR.MeyersV.ElfferichI. (2001). Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: A prospective study in the Netherlands. Lancet, 358, 2039-2045.
73.
WildeD. J.MurrayC. D. (2009). The evolving self: Finding meaning in near-death experiences using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Mental Health, Religion, & Culture, 12, 223-239.
74.
WongP. T.RekerG. T.GesserG. (1994). Death Attitude Profile-Revised: A multidimensional measure of attitudes toward death. In NeimeyerR. A. (Ed.), Death anxiety handbook: Research, instrumentation, and application (pp. 121-148). Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis.
75.
Wren-LewisJ. (1994). Aftereffects of near-death experiences: A survival mechanism hypothesis. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 26, 107-115.
