Perceptions of psychedelic personality change, determinants of use, setting and drug moderation: Toward a holistic model

Abstract

Background: Studies have shown evidence for long-term effects of psychedelics on personality, but comprehensive models of psychedelic-mediated personality changes have yet to be explored. Aims: The present study aims to investigate (1) perceptions of personality change in the general population, (2) moderators of perceived personality change including setting and drug type, and (3) whether personality predisposes individuals to use psychedelics. Method: Paid participants with experience using psychedelic (N = 218), non-users with interest in using psychedelics (N = 104), and non-users without interest in using psychedelic (N = 104) completed an online survey following recruitment from Amazon Mechanical Turk. Psychedelic users were asked to complete written open-ended accounts of perceived personality changes that they attribute to their most intense psychedelic experience. Thematic and factor analyses were undertaken to identify themes of perceived psychedelic change and their organizational structure. Results/Outcomes: Thematic analyses resulted in 52 unique personality change themes, and exploratory factor analyses yielded eight thematic factors (Unitive Spiritual, Gratitude Absorption, Purpose Freedom, Compassion Understanding, Emotional Stability, Openness Perspective, Connection to Self, and Neuroticism Caution). Interest in psychedelic use among non-users was associated with higher openness and neuroticism. Psychedelic users tended to be more open and extraverted, and less neurotic than non-users, and interested non-users tended to be higher in openness than uninterested non-users. Conclusion/Interpretation: The present results inform a tentative model of how personality leads to psychedelic use, how psychedelic use leads to changes in personality, and how setting and drug moderate different types of changes in personality. Research and clinical implications are discussed, including (1) hypotheses for future prospective and experimental research, (2) the value of creating multi-faceted, holistic measures that reflect the diversity and organizational structure of possible psychedelic changes, and (3) the value of allowing such evidence to guide novel psychedelic-assisted therapeutics.