Prevalence of spiritual and religious experiences in the general population: A Brazilian nationwide study

Abstract

Spiritual and religious experiences (SREs) are common subjective phenomena related to the awareness of transcendence, which transforms one's perception of life, death and suffering. Despite the high prevalence of SREs worldwide, not enough studies have been conducted beyond Europe and North America. To fill this gap, this study investigates the prevalence of SREs in Brazil and their association with socio-demographic variables. This online cross-sectional study includes participants from all regions of Brazil. Sixteen SREs were investigated, being categorized into 4 groups: mystical, mediumistic, psi-related and past life/near-death experiences. Prevalence was calculated as percentages and multinomial logistic regression models were used. A total of 1,053 Brazilians were included; 92% reported one SRE in their lifetime and 47.5% experienced at least one SRE frequently. Participants reported having had at least one mystical experience (35%), one psi-related experience (27.7%), and one mediumistic experience (11%). Half the sample had “felt the presence of a dead person” and 70% experienced precognitive dreams at least once. In a multivariate analysis, SREs were associated with the female gender but showed no associations with income, education, employment status and ethnicity. Mystical experiences were associated with age 55 and older. In summary, SREs are very prevalent across different strata of the population, and deserve more attention from researchers and clinicians in order to clarify their nature and implications for mental health care and research in Brazil.