TY - JOUR
T1 - A Feature-Based Approach to the Comparative Study of “Nonordinary” Experiences
AU - Taves, Ann
AU - Barlev, Michael
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Psychological Association
PY - 2022/2/24
Y1 - 2022/2/24
N2 - At the turn of the 20th century, researchers and clinicians compared case studies of patients diagnosed with hysteria and mediums who claimed to channel spirits based on alterations they observed in their sense of self. Yet, notwithstanding its early promise, this comparative approach to such “nonordinary experiences” (NOEs) was never fully realized due to disciplinary siloing and the challenges involved in comparing culture-laden accounts. Today, psychologists tend to reify constructs, such as religious or spiritual, extraordinary (e.g., psychical, paranormal, anomalous, or exceptional), and psychopathological. In doing so, they face an unresolved challenge: experiences with phenomenologically distinct features may be appraised similarly within a culture (i.e., viewed as evidence for the same culturally specific construct) and experiences that share phenomenological features may be appraised differently across cultures. Here, we call for a renewed approach to comparing NOEs across cultures that prioritizes subjectively recognizable features instead of constructs. First, we review the history of the comparative approach in psychology and where it is today. Second, we introduce a featurebased approach, building on the event cognition literature, in which “lived experiences” are broken down into their phenomenological features and the claims made about them. Third, we propose ways in which cultural learning shapes experiences, and possibly the ordinary– nonordinary distinction itself.
AB - At the turn of the 20th century, researchers and clinicians compared case studies of patients diagnosed with hysteria and mediums who claimed to channel spirits based on alterations they observed in their sense of self. Yet, notwithstanding its early promise, this comparative approach to such “nonordinary experiences” (NOEs) was never fully realized due to disciplinary siloing and the challenges involved in comparing culture-laden accounts. Today, psychologists tend to reify constructs, such as religious or spiritual, extraordinary (e.g., psychical, paranormal, anomalous, or exceptional), and psychopathological. In doing so, they face an unresolved challenge: experiences with phenomenologically distinct features may be appraised similarly within a culture (i.e., viewed as evidence for the same culturally specific construct) and experiences that share phenomenological features may be appraised differently across cultures. Here, we call for a renewed approach to comparing NOEs across cultures that prioritizes subjectively recognizable features instead of constructs. First, we review the history of the comparative approach in psychology and where it is today. Second, we introduce a featurebased approach, building on the event cognition literature, in which “lived experiences” are broken down into their phenomenological features and the claims made about them. Third, we propose ways in which cultural learning shapes experiences, and possibly the ordinary– nonordinary distinction itself.
KW - Crosscultural comparison
KW - Culture
KW - Nonordinary experiences
KW - Psychopathology
KW - Religious experiences
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U2 - 10.1037/amp0000990
DO - 10.1037/amp0000990
M3 - Article
C2 - 35201784
AN - SCOPUS:85125925358
SN - 0003-066X
VL - 78
SP - 50
EP - 61
JO - American Psychologist
JF - American Psychologist
IS - 1
ER -