{"id":{"repo_id":"utc","oai_identifier":"oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-1975"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/utc/oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-1975","repository":{"repo_id":"utc","name":"University of Tennessee - Chattanooga","base_url":"https://scholar.utc.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"Who's being transcended?: the role of belief of other as self in mediating the relationship between mystical experience and mental health","abstract":"Throughout history humans have experienced instances where the boundary between self and other dissolved, and the ordinary sense of “I” was replaced with a unity to all of existence or a higher power. These are commonly referred to as mystical experiences, and although the relationship between mystical experiences and positive mental health outcomes has largely been supported, the psychological mechanisms underlying it are unknown. This study develops a scale to test the theory that Belief of Other as Self (BOS) mediates the relationship between mystical experience and mental health. This study also hypothesizes spiritual practice and time elapsed since one’s most recent mystical experience moderate the strength of the aforementioned relationship. Results support BOS as a mediator, while neither elapsed time nor spiritual practice were found to be moderators. These findings reveal the need for developing clinical interventions targeting a patient’s fundamental sense of self to improve mental health.","abstract_html":"Throughout history humans have experienced instances where the boundary between self and other dissolved, and the ordinary sense of “I” was replaced with a unity to all of existence or a higher power. These are commonly referred to as mystical experiences, and although the relationship between mystical experiences and positive mental health outcomes has largely been supported, the psychological mechanisms underlying it are unknown. This study develops a scale to test the theory that Belief of Other as Self (BOS) mediates the relationship between mystical experience and mental health. This study also hypothesizes spiritual practice and time elapsed since one’s most recent mystical experience moderate the strength of the aforementioned relationship. Results support BOS as a mediator, while neither elapsed time nor spiritual practice were found to be moderators. These findings reveal the need for developing clinical interventions targeting a patient’s fundamental sense of self to improve mental health.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Ishak, Christian"],"institution":"University of Tennessee at Chattanooga","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Hood, Ralph W., Jr., 1942-","Shelton, Jill T.; Huber, Thomas","College of Arts and Sciences"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":null,"date_issued":"","date_published":null,"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:47:06Z","subjects":["Self--Religious aspects","Psychology--Religious aspects","Mysticism","Experience (Religion)"],"languages":["English","eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/811","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Hood, Ralph W., Jr., 1942-","Shelton, Jill T.; Huber, Thomas","College of Arts and Sciences"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Ishak, Christian"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2023-05-01T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["University of Tennessee at Chattanooga","Chattanooga (Tenn.)"]},{"key":"dc:relation","label":"Dc Relation","values":["Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Masters theses","Text"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Self--Religious aspects","Psychology--Religious aspects","Mysticism","Experience (Religion)"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English","eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/811"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Dept. of Psychology","M. A.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Throughout history humans have experienced instances where the boundary between self and other dissolved, and the ordinary sense of “I” was replaced with a unity to all of existence or a higher power. These are commonly referred to as mystical experiences, and although the relationship between mystical experiences and positive mental health outcomes has largely been supported, the psychological mechanisms underlying it are unknown. This study develops a scale to test the theory that Belief of Other as Self (BOS) mediates the relationship between mystical experience and mental health. This study also hypothesizes spiritual practice and time elapsed since one’s most recent mystical experience moderate the strength of the aforementioned relationship. Results support BOS as a mediator, while neither elapsed time nor spiritual practice were found to be moderators. These findings reveal the need for developing clinical interventions targeting a patient’s fundamental sense of self to improve mental health."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Who's being transcended?: the role of belief of other as self in mediating the relationship between mystical experience and mental health"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Hood, Ralph W., Jr., 1942-","Shelton, Jill T.; Huber, Thomas","College of Arts and Sciences"],"dc:creator":["Ishak, Christian"],"dc:date":["2023-05-01T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description":["Dept. of Psychology","M. 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Results support BOS as a mediator, while neither elapsed time nor spiritual practice were found to be moderators. These findings reveal the need for developing clinical interventions targeting a patient’s fundamental sense of self to improve mental health."],"dc:identifier":["https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/811"],"dc:language":["English","eng"],"dc:publisher":["University of Tennessee at Chattanooga","Chattanooga (Tenn.)"],"dc:relation":["Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations"],"dc:rights":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:subject":["Self--Religious aspects","Psychology--Religious aspects","Mysticism","Experience (Religion)"],"dc:title":["Who's being transcended?: the role of belief of other as self in mediating the relationship between mystical experience and mental health"],"dc:type":["Masters theses","Text"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:47:06Z"}