Sensing the presence of gods and spirits across cultures and faiths

Hearing the voice of God, feeling the presence of the dead, being possessed by a demonic spirit-such events are among the most remarkable human sensory experiences. They change lives and in turn shape history. Why do some people report experiencing such events while others do not? We argue that experiences of spiritual presence are facilitated by cultural models that represent the mind as porous, or permeable to the world, and by an immersive orientation toward inner life that allows a person to become absorbed in experiences. In four studies with over 2,000 participants from many religious traditions in the United States, Ghana, Thailand, China, and Vanuatu, porosity and absorption played distinct roles in determining which people, in which cultural settings, were most likely to report vivid sensory experiences of what they took to be gods and spirits.

Automated summary

Through four studies with over 2,000 participants from various religious traditions, it was found that cultural models representing the mind as porous and an immersive orientation toward inner life played distinct roles in determining who, in which cultural settings, were most likely to report vivid sensory experiences of what they believed to be gods and spirits.