Abstract

This screening survey of college students found that 59% of the 105 respondents indicated that they had experienced a psychic and/or transcendent/spiritual experience. Those reporting these anomalous experiences tended to have a greater overall sense of meaning in life. Among different factors that can give meaning and purpose to life, expressing artistic creativity and observing spiritual beliefs were positively related to reports of anomalous experiences, whereas obtaining wealth was negatively related. The survey also confirmed that scales for absorption and temporal lobe symptoms correlate positively with each other and with reports of anomalous experiences. The pattern of correlations among well-being measures, anomalous experiences, and other variables was consistent with previous studies with college students but was different from previous results with nonstudent adults. Research on the relationship between religion and mental health has found similar positive relationships for adult populations and mixed results for college students.

Very few respondents considered their anomalous experiences detrimental, and 91 % of those reporting transcendent experiences and 46% of those reporting psychic experiences considered them valuable.

If anomalous experiences generally have beneficial effects, the relationships between these experiences and health measures may become more positive over time. This hypothe­sis appears consistent with the limited available data and offers great research potential.