Trait absorption, altered meaning, and mood disturbance during shamanic-like journeying: Moderator and indirect effects analyses

Previous studies have linked shamanic practices to high levels of altered personal meaning and reductions in mood disturbance. However, these studies have neglected to investigate whether the effect of shamanic stimulus conditions on mood disturbance is moderated by altered meaning. Moreover, previous research has not evaluated whether, during shamanic journeying, there exists an indirect effect from various personality traits (e.g. absorption ability) to mood disturbance through altered meaning. The present study, therefore, aimed to address these issues. Sixty-one non-shamans were randomly assigned to either a shamanic-like journeying condition (visualisation while listening to monotonous drumming for 15 minutes) or a control condition (sitting quietly with eyes open for 15 minutes). As predicted, altered meaning significantly moderated the effect of condition on total mood disturbance. Further, total mood disturbance was negatively correlated with altered meaning, and this correlation was significant for the shamanic-like journeying condition, but not for the control condition. Unexpectedly, trait absorption was positively correlated with altered meaning for both the shamanic-like journeying condition and the control condition. Finally, in line with expectations, for the shamanic-like group, a significant indirect effect was found from trait absorption to total mood disturbance through altered meaning. It is concluded that altered meaning is an important state variable which appears to reduce mood disturbance during shamanic-like journeying.