State-Specific Research in Transpersonal Psychology

28 Dec State-Specific Research in Transpersonal Psychology

Charles Tart (2008) offers his view that if transpersonal psychologists want to understand various esoteric systems and altered states of consciousness, it is “helpful but not enough” (p. 137) to study their books and traditions. These systems were created as state-specific knowledge bases, and as such, to truly understand them the researcher would need to be in the altered state the originators were in when they formed the tradition. This would include experimenting with the techniques that induce the necessary altered states of consciousness, and understanding that the internal experience of the researcher is of equal value to the external techniques. As transpersonal psychology learns more about how to induce specific altered states and how to measure them, the field will be able to expand to include this state-specific knowledge.

Hartilius ((2015) touches on this in his article on the different types of mindfulness. When we talk about mindfulness, we may be talking about one of eight different types, so we need to clarify what we mean. He suggests that more research in the area of mindfulness may require training participants, which would be state-specific research.

Fetterman (2013) conducted eight studies on people as to whether they identified their “I’ as existing in their heads or their hearts. Strangely, they were able to quickly identify and whichever they chose matched their personality profile. The studies found it mostly true that people identified as “head” were rational and cold, while “heart” people were emotional and warm. This leads to what Fetterman refers to a metaphor-enriched personality psychology. Although this differs from state-specific concerns, it does speak to the importance of identifying who our subjects are.

The idea of state-specific research is exciting. It is also fraught with potential issues, as are all things. I see the main issue being that the results of any studies done will not be applicable to the public at large but only to a handful of people who have been trained in attaining a particular state. It will move things forward, however, and I look forward to this advance.

References

 Fetterman, A. K., & Robinson, M. D. (2013). Do you use your head or follow your heart?  Self-location predicts personality, emotion, decision making, and performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 105(2), 316-334.

Hartelius, G. (2015). Body maps of attention: Phenomenal markers for two varieties of mindfulness. Mindfulness, 6(6), 1271-1281.

Numenmaa, L., Glerean, E., Hari, R., Hietanan, J. K. (2014). Bodily maps of emotions.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111(2), 646-651.

Tart, C. T. (2008). Accessing state-specific transpersonal knowledge: Inducing altered states. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 40(2), 137-154.

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