Psychedelics, personality and political perspectives

This retrospective survey study (n=893) investigated the relationship between psychedelics use, ego dissolution, personality traits, political perspectives, and nature relatedness, and found that psychedelic use was associated with liberal and anti-authoritarian political views, openness to new experiences, and nature-relatedness.

Abstract

Introduction: The psychedelic experience (including psychedelic-induced ego dissolution) can effect lasting change in a person’s attitudes and beliefs. Here, we aimed to investigate the association between naturalistic psychedelic use and personality, political perspectives, and nature relatedness using an anonymous internet survey.

Methods: Participants (N = 893) provided information about their naturalistic psychedelic, cocaine, and alcohol use, and answered questions relating to personality traits of openness and conscientiousness (Ten-Item Personality Inventory), nature relatedness (Nature-Relatedness Scale), and political attitudes (one-item liberalism-conservatism measure and five-item libertarian-authoritarian measure). Participants also rated the degree of ego dissolution experienced during their “most intense” recalled psychedelic experience (Ego-Dissolution Inventory).

Results: Multivariate linear regression analysis indicated that lifetime psychedelic use (but not lifetime cocaine use or weekly alcohol consumption) positively predicted liberal political views, openness and nature relatedness, and negatively predicted authoritarian political views, after accounting for potential confounding variables. Ego dissolution experienced during a participant’s “most intense” psychedelic experience positively predicted liberal political views, openness and nature relatedness, and negatively predicted authoritarian political views.

Discussion: Further work is needed to investigate the nature of the relationship between the peak psychedelic experience and openness to new experiences, egalitarian political views, and concern for the environment.”

Authors: Matthew M. Nour, Lisa Evans & Robin L. Carhart-Harris

Notes

This article can be read in the context of this opinion article by Matthew Johnson and David Yaden in Scientific American (November 2020) that argues that there is no good evidence that psychedelics change your politics or religion.

Summary

We used an anonymous internet survey to investigate the association between naturalistic psychedelic use and personality, political perspectives, and nature relatedness. We found that lifetime psychedelic use positively predicted liberal political views, openness and nature relatedness, and negatively predicted authoritarian political views.

Introduction

The transpersonal or mystical experience is a powerful catalyst for positive psychological change, and is experienced in both religious and secular contexts.

In recent years, there has been increased interest in the scientific study of self-transcendent emotions, including awe, and a renewed interest in psychedelic drugs, particularly the mystical (or “peak”) psychedelic experience.

Naturalistic psychedelic use is associated with reduced rates of suicidality and psychological distress in the general population, and with increased value on spiritual/mystical beliefs, as well as concern for others and nature/the environment compared to those who use cannabis, amphetamine, or heroin.

In experimental settings, psilocybin and LSD can cause lasting changes in personality traits, beliefs, and attitudes, including increases in openness, trust, optimism, and subjective well-being.

In a large, anonymous Internet survey, we investigated the relationship between lifetime naturalistic psychedelic use and political perspectives, nature relatedness, and the personality traits of openness and conscientiousness. We also tested the relationship between psychedelic-induced ego dissolution and personality traits and attitudes.

Method

Survey structure

Participants answered questions on demographic details, personal drug use, and political perspectives. They were then asked to rate their political orientation on a scale from 1 to 7.

The liberal-conservative political dimension emphasizes social and economic equality, whereas the libertarian-authoritarian political dimension emphasizes personal freedoms and limited government. The mean score over all five items was used as a measure of authoritarianism.

To assess nature relatedness, participants rated six statements on a 5-point scale from “1 = disagree strongly” to “5 = agree strongly”. The mean of the answers was used as a measure of “nature relatedness”.

We used the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) to assess the personality traits of openness and conscientiousness. The TIPI consists of only two items for each Big Five trait and has been shown to have adequate construct validity, test – retest reliability, and patterns of external correlates.

All participants were asked to rate the degree of ego dissolution experienced for their “most intense” psychedelic experience, using the validated Ego-Dissolution Inventory (EDI). They were also asked whether they believed that the experience had led to a change in their current sense of personal well-being or life satisfaction.

Dissemination of the survey

The survey was hosted by Survey Gizmo and took 38 minutes to complete. It was approved by the Imperial College Research Ethics Committee.

Participants were recruited on Facebook groups, Twitter pages, email newsletters, and online drug forums, and provided informed consent by clicking “next” on the first page of the questionnaire. Data collection occurred over a four-week period in 2015.

Relationship between psychedelic use and personality traits, political perspectives, and nature relatedness

Multivariate linear regression was used to assess the relationship between lifetime psychedelic use and five dependent variables, while controlling for potentially relevant covariates. Specifically, age, highest educational attainment, sex, lifetime psychedelic use, lifetime cocaine use, and weekly alcohol consumption were assessed.

Relationship between ego dissolution and personality traits, political perspectives, and nature relatedness

We used multivariate linear regression to assess whether the degree of ego dissolution experienced during the most intense psychedelic experience predicted authoritarianism, liberalism, nature relatedness, openness, or conscientiousness.

Results

Baseline demographics of survey responders

Eight hundred and ninety-three participants answered questions relating to demographic details, drug use, political perspectives, nature relatedness, and personality traits. They identified as politically liberal, scored low on authoritarianism, and highly on nature relatedness, openness, and conscientiousness.

Psychometric properties of the liberalism-authoritarianism questionnaire

The subset of questions chosen for this study had a one-factor psychometric structure, with the first component explaining 51.3% of the variance and the second component explaining 1.07 of the variance.

Relationship between psychedelic use and personality traits, political perspectives, and nature relatedness

Five multivariate linear regression models found that lifetime psychedelic use negatively predicted authoritarianism but positively predicted liberalism, nature relatedness, openness, and conscientiousness.

Openness was predicted by lifetime psychedelic use and lifetime cocaine use, and by preferential psychedelic use (vs. cocaine use) in a multivariate linear regression within this subgroup.

Relationship between ego dissolution and personality traits, political perspectives, and nature relatedness

A subset of participants provided additional information on their most intense psychedelic experience by completing the Ego-Dissolution Inventory. The median intensity of this experience was 76.

Five multivariate linear regression models found that ego dissolution during a psychedelic experience negatively predicted authoritarianism and positively predicted liberalism, nature relatedness, and openness.

Participants’ subjective well-being was moderately increased after the psychedelic experience. This change was positively correlated with ratings of ego dissolution.

Discussion

Psychedelic use was associated with liberal and anti-authoritarian political views, openness to new experiences, and nature relatedness, using a large, anonymous Internet survey.

Openness is a Big Five personality trait that encompasses aesthetic appreciation, tolerance of others’ viewpoints, and permeability to new experiences. Psilocybin use was associated with increases in trait openness over one year.

Our results are consistent with previous findings that psychedelic use is associated with trait openness, and that ego dissolution experienced during a most intense psychedelic experience is predictive of trait openness.

We found that psychedelic use is associated with liberal (or left-leaning) and libertarian (or anti-authoritarian) values. Liberal (or left-leaning) individuals place emphasis on social justice and equality, and are wary of unregulated capitalistic practices.

In our sample, psychedelic use and ego dissolution were more strongly predictive of nature relatedness than any other dependent variable. Psychedelic use is associated with increased concern for nature and the environment, as well as increased personal well-being and prosocial behavior.

The degree of ego dissolution experienced during an individual’s most intense psychedelic experience is associated with inter-individual differences in openness, liberalism, and nature relatedness, and is negatively predictive of authoritarianism.

Psychedelic-induced ego dissolution involves feelings of unity with others and the universe, and a reduction in personal self-importance. It is highly correlated with the intensity of the psychedelic experience.

Ego dissolution is related to the experience of awe, which may increase pro-social behavior and ethical decision making by shifting attention away from one’s individual concerns and towards the larger entities that an individual is part of.

Hypotheses on the neurobiological basis of unitive experiences induced by psychedelic drugs have been proposed. These hypotheses focus on decreased functional differentiation between brain networks concerned with internal and external processing, and increased global integration, which is a natural corollary of decreased modular differentiation.

This study has some limitations. It is unlikely that psychedelic use causes increases in liberalism, nature relatedness, or openness, and the sample is skewed towards young, male, well-educated participants from Europe and North America.

The use of retrospective and unverified ratings of drug use and previous psychedelic experiences, short validated scales, and undefined terms in the Ego-Dissolution Inventory would weaken any associations found in this study.

Our results suggest that naturalistic psychedelic use is associated with increased liberalism, nature relatedness and openness, and decreased authoritarianism, in the study sample. This finding supports the predictive validity of the Ego-Dissolution Inventory.