Evaluating Reliance on Narratives in the Scientific Study of Religious Experiences

The scientific study of religious and spiritual experiences (RSEs) has relied heavily on narratives. What are the benefits and liabilities of this ongoing reliance? We employed a survey instrument for generating a multidimensional quantitative profile of a state of consciousness: the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI). In addition to yielding important information about the characteristic features of RSEs, the results permitted comparison with independent ratings of narratives. The comparison revealed that significant information about the phenomenological qualities of recalled experiences drops out when moving to narrative interpretation. We conclude that scientists studying the phenomenological features of RSEs should approach narratives with care, relying on them where they prove effective at communicating experiential content, and supplementing them with other approaches where narratives are less effective modes of communication.