Testoni, I., Vischio, A., Ciappa, C., Gentile, M., & De Vincenzo, C. (2025). Social Psychological and Spiritual Discomfort: Legitimization of the Need for Transcendence and Psychological Listening. Pastoral Psychology, 1-14.

 What They Did

Working through a spiritual support organization, the researchers recruited 21 adults who had sought help from a priest exorcist (though none had actual exorcisms performed). Participants responded to questionnaires about personal well-being, coping methods, childhood trauma, propensity for fantasy, and conceptualizations of death. Eight of the respondents also participated in semi-structured interviews about their experience.

 Statistical analysis of the questionnaire responses showed that use of religion and transcendence as coping strategies was correlated with lower psychological distress. Conceptualization of death as the end of one’s existence, on the other hand, was correlated with greater psychological distress and inversely correlated with both the use of religion as a coping method and the propensity for fantasy. Finally, childhood emotional neglect was correlated with the use of avoidance as a coping strategy.

The eight interviews revealed that the participants experienced existential distress, particularly around personal and family issues. Some reported feeling trapped and desperate for escape. Most of the participants had significant trauma in their childhoods, ranging from parental violence or severe parental mental illness to emotional neglect, even when some had attempted suicide themselves. Many participants were surprised at the compassion and understanding with which spiritual caregivers responded to their stories. They mentioned feelings of relief and comfort and described the importance of being deeply seen and heard in their suffering. Although participants saw their faith as an important source of clarity and stability, many also noted the importance of combining spiritual and psychological approaches, some working with both clergy and psychologists.

Further Exploration

Although the research findings are interesting, I don’t feel like they really address the question of why the participants sought assistance from spiritual figures rather than from mental health professions. About 90% of the participants said they were religious, and about half had seen a psychologist at some point. It’s not surprising that religious individuals might seek help from clergy, though I do wonder what motivated the other 10% to seek not just a priest but one trained in exorcism.

This study was conducted in Italy, and I don’t know what the statistics are there, but in the United States, about 150 Roman Catholic priests are trained in exorcism (see https://thenationaldesk.com/news/americas-news-now/vatican-to-hold-training-next-month-as-demand-for-exorcism-continues-to-rise-catholic-church-prayer-ritual-priests-internation-association-of-exorcists-paranormal-supernatural-psychiatry-mental-health) out of about 37,000 priests total (see https://www.usccb.org/offices/public-affairs/clergy-and-religious), so less than 1% of U.S. Roman Catholic priests are exorcists. As noted above, none of the research participants actually went through an exorcism ritual, which is also unsurprising: according to the National Desk article above, only 1 in every 5000 people who present as possible cases of possession are confirmed as such by religious officials.

The National Desk article dates from 2023 and refers to an increase in requests for exorcisms, but that increase has been reported since at least 2014 (see https://www.vice.com/en/article/why-catholic-exorcists-are-seeing-an-uptick-in-requests/). Some suggest that fictional representations have increased interest. The researchers who conducted this study also mention that some consider possession in the Christian sense to be a culture-bound psychological syndrome. It would be interesting to compare possession with other culture-bound syndromes, but that’s a rabbit hole for another day!

Public domain image

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Folio_166r_-_The_Exorcism.jpg

Zivanovic, Goran, Concepció Arenas, and Francesc Mestres. "Temporal and habitat adaptations in Drosophila subobscura populations: changes in chromosomal inversions." Genetica 153, no. 1 (2025): 16.

 What They Did

In 2023, the researchers collected Drosophila subobscura fruit flies from Jastrebac Mountain in Serbia, revisiting oak and beech forest locations that had been previous collection sites in 1990 for the oak forest and in 1990, 1993, and 1994 for the beech forest. Male flies from the 2023 collection and their descendants were crossed with flies from a reference strain. The researchers dissected at least eight larvae from each cross to examine their chromosomes. In particular, they looked at the different patterns of inversions, areas where part of the original chromosome was detached, flipped, and replaced. (For example, a nucleotide sequence of TGATTCGG might change to AGTTTCGG).

Previous research had identified many D. subobscura chromosomal inversions as cold-adapted, warm-adapted, or not thermally adapted. Therefore, the researchers were able to quantify the degree of imbalance in warm- or cold-adapted chromosomes for each collection site. Multivariate analysis showed that some of the chromosomal variation among groups of fruit flies depended on time, with those from the 2023 oak and beech site similar to each other, those from the 1993 and 1994 beech sites differing, and those from the 1990 oak and beech sites differing even more.

Among the flies in the beech forest, the imbalance towards warm-adapted chromosomes increased from 1990 to 1994 but did not change from 1994 to 2023, suggesting that the degree of adaptation reached its maximum in 1994. The flies at the oak site did not show a significant change in the degree of adaptation between 1990 and 2023.

 

Further Exploration

A good number of inversions have been in the human genome for a while and aren’t reported in laboratory DNA analysis because they’re considered natural variants. Since this information came from a document about chromosomal disorders (see https://rarechromo.org/media/information/Other%20Topics/Inversions%20FTNW.pdf), I assume the context is a DNA analysis to find out if one has any chromosomal issues that might affect fertility or the health of one’s children.

Most of the time, chromosomal inversions don’t cause any problems. This might be because they’re usually less than 1000 base pairs (see https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2946949/). Since most human DNA doesn’t code for proteins, an inversion of only a few hundred base pairs might not affect protein coding at all. At the same time, other functions have been found for some of that non-coding DNA, and I wonder what effects inversions would have on other functions (see https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-complex-truth-about-junk-dna-20210901/). Sections of DNA with inversions are a lot less likely to recombine with non-inverted analogous chromosomes during meiosis, so there’s more tendency for genes in or near the inversion to be inherited together. This is also part of how sex chromosomes work: inversions make the Y chromosome largely unable to recombine with the X chromosome.

It appears that the process that generates some of the inversions in D. subobscura also results in additional copies of some segments of DNA. These extra copies might provide an advantage in tolerating different climate conditions (see https://www.nature.com/articles/srep30715). I’d love to know exactly how the inversions affect fruit fly climate adaption, but that’s a rabbit hole for another day!

Image credit: Martin Cooper (adapted from original collage image to show only the adult fruit fly).

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Drosophila_(Sophophora)_subobscura_(male)_collage.jpg

Nature-Based Spirituality, East and West

Today's post is once again taken from my independent study work. Nature-Based Spirituality, East and West © 2025 by Kimberly Israel is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0

Spiritual Ecosystem Services

Nakadi (2023) addresses the psychological importance of nature with his conception of “spiritual ecosystem services.” In particular, he examines the ecological factors that contribute to large trees being given unique names and considered sacred. Using a database of over 39,000 trees in Japan with circumferences of at least 3 meters, he looked for correlations among tree size, tree age, average temperature, average annual precipitation, elevation, latitude, likelihood of a tree having a unique name, and likelihood of a tree being considered sacred. The largest trees tended to be older and grow in areas with more precipitation. They were also found in cooler areas at lower elevation and lower latitude.

 

Unsurprisingly, larger and older trees were more likely to have names and be considered sacred. The likelihood of naming and sacred status, however, were also inversely correlated with precipitation. Nakadi speculates that this may be because tree-worship in Japan historically included prayers for rain, particularly when the success of drought-sensitive rice crops was a matter of life and death. Some of the names given to trees also relate to their perceived spiritual connection to the rain.

 

While both naming and sacred status were related to precipitation, only the likelihood of being given a name was correlated with elevation. Nakadi suggests that large trees at higher elevations are particularly likely to be seen from a distance and to serve as landmarks and may therefore be named for practical purposes even if they are not considered sacred. As Nakadi himself points out, this study addresses only one component of the relationship between spiritual meaning and underlying ecology in one culture. Much more research is needed to understand the provisioning of “spiritual ecosystem services” in other contexts so as to prevent the loss of important components of human well-being.

 

Neo-Pagan Spirituality

 

Modern druidry is frequently classified as a form of neo-pagan spirituality, and indeed several of the same people were involved in the development of both Wicca and modern druidry (OBOD, n.d.). Therefore, research on present-day pagan spiritual experience may generalize at least somewhat to modern druid spirituality as well. Sonnex et al. (2022) discuss the psychological benefits of pagan practice in relation to liminality and eudaimonia.

 

Many pagan workings involve the casting of a circle to create a liminal space between the mundane and magical or spiritual realms (Sonnex et al., 2022), a practice also used in modern druidry (OBOD, n.d.). According to Sonnex et al., the pagan activities within the circle are generally meant to access and direct “energy” towards the chosen purpose. Engaging the senses through symbolism, props, and costumes helps create a sense of immersion and increases the liminality of the working. As participants imaginatively identify with the working, the boundaries between conscious and unconscious, reason and emotion become blurred. Sonnex et al. note that although pagan workings may have an element of amateur theater, the participants find them to be spiritually meaningful.

 

Furthermore, they argue that pagan spirituality promotes well-being in the eudaimonic sense of living well, not only in the hedonic sense of feeling good. Many pagans consider personal growth to be the most important part of their workings. They see their activities as promoting empowerment and constructive acceptance of life changes. Sonnex et al. cite two examples of workings: one focusing on a young woman who wanted to confidently take on adult roles in her family and one centered on an older woman who wanted to accept aging. In both cases, the purpose was not to change the physical world but to help the participants grow to meet the challenges of a new stage of life: the workings metaphorically enact the needed transformations.

Image credit: John William Waterhouse (public domain)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_magic_circle,_by_John_William_Waterhouse.jpg

References

Nakadai, R. (2023). Macroecological processes drive spiritual ecosystem services obtained from giant trees. Nature Plants, 9, 209-213.

OBOD. (n.d.) The origins of Wicca & Druidry. Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids. https://druidry.org/druid-way/other-paths/wicca-druidcraft/origins-wicca-druidry

Sonnex, C., Roe, C.A., & Roxburgh, E.C. (2022). Flow, liminality, and eudaimonia: pagan ritual practice as a gateway to a life with meaning. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 62(2), 233-256.

Passmore and Krauss on the Role of Nature in Meaning-Making

Today's post is once again from my independent study work, primarily summarizing some of the key points in a journal article I found really valuable. Passmore and Krauss on the Role of Nature in Meaning-Making © 2025 by Kimberly Israel is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0

Although spiritual paths such as modern druidry emphasize connection with nature, the role of nature in meaning-making is certainly not unique to druids. In a review article, Passmore and Krauss (2023) discuss the research on nature as a source of meaning for people in general. They focus on a tripartite model of meaning, which breaks the concept into coherence, purpose, and significance. They also refer to work on experiential appreciation as an additional potential component of meaning.

 People can find a sense of coherence in the patterns and cycles of nature, positioning their own life and its changes in a broader context. In her book on secular meaning-making, Sasha Sagan (2019), notes that people around the world celebrate astronomy and biology: phases of the moon; solstices and equinoxes; changes in seasons; planting and harvest; birth, growth, and death. Attending to the change and repetition in nature can provide a larger perspective on life and increase a feeling that the universe makes sense (Passmore & Krauss, 2023).

 

Nature can be a source of inspiration, increasing one’s feeling of purpose. Passmore and Krauss note that research suggests that time in nature enhances self-reflection, which is necessary for developing a conscious sense of purpose. Furthermore, many people find purpose in activities that engage or benefit nature, from gardening to environmental activism. These activities provide channels for the individual to invest effort in something larger than themselves.  Purposeful action can enhance a person’s sense of significance by allowing them to see that they make a difference.

 

The experiences of connection and embodiment in nature also increase the feeling of significance. Passmore and Krauss refer to studies showing a correlation between green space and social cohesion, as well as evidence that exposure to awe-inspiring aspects of nature increases the feeling of social connectedness. Furthermore, even attention to components nature encountered in daily life increases the sense of “transcendent connectedness.” The awareness of being part of something, whether a social group or the universe as a whole, seems to increase the sense of significance. This insight seems to run counter, however, to the common descriptions of feeling small or unimportant relative to the ocean or the galaxy, and further research may be needed to unpack this apparent paradox.

 

Passmore and Krauss note that some research suggests experiential appreciation as a fourth component of meaning. Experiential appreciation involves a strong sense of valuing and being absorbed in the present moment. The authors mention several theories that suggest biological underpinnings for experiential appreciation in relation to nature. The Biophilia Hypothesis, developed by E.O. Wilson in the 1980s, suggests that human beings evolved to form emotional connections with nonhuman nature (Gaekwad et al., 2022). 

The Attention Restoration Theory, meanwhile, proposes that natural environments provide restoration from “directed attention fatigue” by gently engaging attention without requiring effort from the viewer and allowing space for the mind to wander (Kaplan, 1995). The research of Joye et al. (2016) supports the idea that the fractal quality (i.e. scale-invariant self-similarity) of natural objects means they take less cognitive effort to visually process, such that people display greater “perceptual fluency” in natural environments.

Image credit: Hubert Stoffels

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jonathan%27s_Run_Falls.jpg

References

 

Gaekwad, J.S., Moslehian, A.S., Roös, P.B., & Walker, A. (2022). A meta-analysis of emotional evidence for the Biophilia Hypothesis and implications for biophilic design. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 750245.

 

Joye, Y., Steg, L., Unal, A.B., & Pals, R. (2016). When complex is easy on the mind: internal representation of visual information in complex objects is a source of perceptual fluency. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 42(1), 103-114.

 

Kaplan, S. (1995). The restorative benefits of nature: toward an integrative framework. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 15, 169-182.

 

Passmore, H.-A., & Krause, A.N. (2023). The beyond-human natural world: providing meaning and making meaning. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20, 6170.

Sagan, S. (2019). For small creatures such as we. Putnam Adult (Hc).

McDowall, A., Doyle, N., & Kiseleva, M. (2025). Should I stay or should I go? A relational biopsychosocial perspective on neurodivergent talent, career satisfaction and turnover intention. Human Resource Management.

 What They Did

The researchers collected data from 985 neurodivergent employees in the United Kingdom, primarily from people in office workplaces but including a few from retail, transportation, and policing. In addition to demographic questions, they asked about people’s overall well-being, individualized workplace accommodations, workplace neurodiversity knowledge and support, workplace psychological safety, career satisfaction, and likelihood of leaving their job. Most of the participants had more than one neurodivergent condition, and they generally rated their well-being as relatively low.

Participants with dyscalculia seemed to have the greatest difficulty, generally rating the workplaces as less informed and supporting and providing lower psychological safety. They tended to rate themselves as having low job satisfaction and being likely to leave their job in the near future. Job satisfaction was also low among people with dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyspraxia, and tic conditions. People with tic conditions ranked their workplace support as low, and those with dysgraphia were likely to leave their jobs. Despite the low job satisfaction of people with dyslexia, they reported a high degree of psychological safety and were likely to remain in their jobs.  Autistic people were also likely to remain.

The researchers found that psychological safety was the strongest influence on well-being, career satisfaction, and likelihood  of remaining in the job. Well-being also directly affected satisfaction and likelihood of remaining, and satisfaction directly affected likelihood of remaining. The researchers note the importance of designing workplace policies and accommodations with neurodivergent needs included throughout the developmental process, rather than adding them on to already-established systems.

Further Exploration

One of the strengths of this study was the inclusion of underrepresented neurodivergent conditions, not just autism and ADHD. Even in this study, about half the participants were autistic and about 60% had ADHD (most participants had more than one condition). The researchers did, however, make a concerted effort to recruit people with other neurodivergent conditions.

 A possible weakness is the conceptualization of career satisfaction in terms of personal advancement and alignment of work with abilities. While these are certainly important, other potentially important values are not captured. If I were writing the career satisfaction measure, I might include such items as: “I believe that my work supports the common good,” “I find my work to be stimulating but not overwhelming”, and “I have enough autonomy to develop an effective and sustainable work style.”

The researchers asked participants whether their workplace accommodations, if any, were tailored extensively, somewhat, or not at all, but they did not provide any examples of accommodations. The following websites provide information about accommodations for various neurodivergent conditions: https://www.tourettes-action.org.uk/blog-235-.html, https://www.dyslexia.uk.net/workplace/equality-at-work/, https://cognassist.com/insights/blog/dyscalculia-in-the-workplace/, https://cognassist.com/insights/blog/dyspraxia-in-the-workplace/, https://www.disclo.com/resources/top-10-workplace-accommodations-for-people-living-with-adhd, https://autismalliance.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/PUBLIC-Inclusive-Workplaces-Discussion-Tool_-An-Accommodations-Checklist-for-Autistic-Employees-2.pdf. Remote work and flexible schedules in particular can be helpful accommodations for many neurodivergent conditions. Remote work allows employees to manage their sensory needs, avoid distractions, and reduce social anxiety. Flexible hours provide a sense of autonomy and help employees manage inconsistent focus and energy more productively. Despite the benefits, many employers seem reluctant to offer remote work and flexible hours. It might be interesting to delve into the reasons, but that’s a rabbit hole for another day!

Image credit: ciphr.com

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Workplace_Stress_Illustration.jpg

Approaches to Transpersonal Epistemology

This is another post taken almost directly from my independent study schoolwork. Like yesterday's post, it assumes familiarity with the field, but I'm still very happy to take questions! Also like yesterday: Approaches to Transpersonal Epistemology © 2025 by Kimberly Israel is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0

Heriot-Maitland et al., 2023: Transpersonal Experiences Questionnaire

Optimism about the future of transpersonal psychology is supported by an article in a mainstream psychology journal describing the development of an instrument for assessing the range of transpersonal experience in individuals. Heriot-Maitland et al. (2023) report a growing awareness of “psychotic-like experience” in the non-clinical population and a need to measure it on a continuum. Although the experiences in question may resemble psychotic symptoms, terms such as “anomalous experience” and “transpersonal experience” are used to de-stigmatize and de-pathologize them in a non-clinical context.

 

Heriot-Maitland et al. developed their Transpersonal Experience Questionnaire beginning with an unpublished set of 57 Likert-scale items from one of the authors and using established methods to reduce it to 19 binary (yes or no) items. Unlike many similar instruments, the questions refer only to the past seven days, allowing for use with a single individual at different timepoints.

 

 Factor analysis indicated that all items on the questionnaire load to a single underlying factor, though responses to several items correlated significantly with either age or level of education. The population sample that participated in testing of the instrument was disproportionately white, female, and young. Although the authors found no correlations between responses and gender or ethnicity, further research would be needed to validate the instrument for a more diverse population, and the correlations with age and education need to be considered for any practical application.

 

The authors point out that the most “pathological” items on the questionnaire, those relating to hallucinations or delusions, were not the most discriminatory, suggesting that transpersonal experience is indeed different from clinical psychosis.  

 

Cunningham, 2023: Ontology of Spiritual Knowledge

           

Despite an encouraging contribution to mainstream psychology, the transpersonal field also continues to struggle with questions of epistemology. Cunningham (2023) addresses the felt sense of reality that accompanies many exceptional human experiences. Not only do the experiences feel real in the sense of seeming to be actual relational encounters, but they may include a sense of epistemological validity, of being “states of knowledge” that are self-validating to the experiencer.

 

Cunningham argues that "the very antiquity and universality of certain exceptional human experiences adds to rather than detracts from the plausibility of their possible ontological reality" (Cunningham, 2023). Although the ontological reality of such experiences is unquestionable in the sense that people do have them, their ubiquity alone does not mean that the experiences imply an additional, unseen ontological reality. After all, the brightness contrast visual illusion (an illusion in which colored regions that reflect the same wavelengths of light are perceived as different colors based on the brightness and contrast of the surrounding field) applies to urban Westerners and to rural Africans (Kroupin et al., 2025), despite the different cultural influences. More emotionally salient forms of non-ontological meaning-making may also apply across cultures.

 

Cunningham echoes Wilber (1990) in arguing that “spiritual knowledge claims are no more ‘private’ than mathematical knowledge claims” due to the fact that spiritual knowledge can be taught and that people can learn methods to access it and compare experiences. The degree of pluralism in spirituality, however, is quite different from that in mathematics.

 

Creativity leads to new insights and opens up “new realm[s] of human discourse” (Cunningham, 2023) in both spirituality and mathematics, but the degree of personal, subjective expression in spirituality might be more akin to that of art than mathematics. Spirituality can be similar to mathematics, however, in that it can permeate all aspects of an individual life and provide coherence, much like mathematics can relate phenomena in the natural world through underlying patterns that may not be immediately obvious.

Image credit: Dodek

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gradient-optical-illusion.svg

References

Cunningham, P.F. (2023). An empirically controlled metaphysics in a science of spirituality - is something real happening? Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 43(2), 90-107.

Heriot-Maitland, C., Vitoratou, S., Peters, E., Hermans, K., Wykes, T., & Brett, C. (2023). Detecting anomalous experiences in the community: the Transpersonal Experiences Questionnaire (TEQ). Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 96, 383-398.

Kroupin, I., Davis, H. E., Lopes, A. J. P., Konkle, T., & Muthukrishna, M. (2025, February 13). Visual illusions reveal wide range of cross-cultural differences in visual perception. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/gxzcp_v2.

Wilber, K. (1990). Eye to eye: the quest for the new paradigm. Shambhala.

Transpersonal Psychology Research in Taiwan and Indonesia

I’ve been hyperfocused on my independent study project lately and haven’t had additional bandwidth for blogging, so I thought I’d share some of my work instead. This is directly taken from the writeup I submitted to my advisor yesterday. It assumes familiarity with the field, but I'm happy to address any questions through the comment box. Since this is my work that I need for my project:

Transpersonal Psychology Research in Taiwan and Indonesia © 2025 by Kimberly Israel is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 

Phan et al., 2024: A Trans-Mystical Mindset

 

Recent articles show the influence of transpersonal psychology in the non-Western cultures of Taiwan (Phan et al., 2024) and Indonesia (Harynto & Muslih, 2025). Phan et al. (2024) refer to a “trans-mystical mindset” and situate it in the context of “life and death education,” a Taiwanese approach to development of a meaningful and satisfying life with the awareness of inevitable death (Phan et al., 2021). The term “trans-mysticism” is suggested as combination of “transpersonalism,” and “mysticism.”

 

A “trans-mystical mindset” seems to refer partly to an openness to the potential meaning of spiritual and transpersonal material in meaning-making around life and death and partly to a state of consciousness infused with transpersonal or spiritual meaning. Phan et al. (2024) indicate both that trans-mysticism can help people understand different cultural beliefs around life and death and that a trans-mystical mindset is different from an ordinary mindset. They correlate an ordinary mindset with the physiological, safety, belonging, and esteem needs in Maslow’s hierarchy and a trans-mystical mindset with the self-actualization and self-transcendence needs.

 

The researchers also propose a “holistic state of consciousness-subconsciousness” as one in which “trans-mystical”, “meditative-reflective”, “transcendence”, and “self-actualizing” states are all active, though they do not describe the difference between these states. It is also unclear whether a “state” differs from a “mindset” and to what degree either term implies differences in cognition and perception or simply differences in attitude and orientation.

 

Phan et al. also note that “trans-mystical experiences” may be conscious or subconscious in that a person may understand the trans-mystical nature of their experience as it happens or may become aware of trans-mystical content upon later reflection. This perspective suggests the possibility for temporally-shifted transpersonal experience that contributes to personal meaning-making, such as a memory of having had a vision, even without a clear sense of when the experience may have occurred. The apparent ambiguity among states, mindsets, orientations, experiences, and memories, while perhaps challenging for a Westerner, echoes the complexity of inner life and may hold the potential for fruitful lines of inquiry.

 

Harynto and Muslih, 2025: Transpersonal Practices

 

Harynto and Muslih (2025) approach transpersonal psychology as a way to study spiritual well-being. They conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 people in their home country of Indonesia who had at least six months of experience with mindfulness, mediation, or holotropic therapy (a therapy modality based on Grof’s holotropic breathwork and offered at “holotropic therapy centers”). Theme analysis of the interview transcripts identified themes of “mystical”, “spiritual”, “awareness”, “anxiety” and “depression”, along with the transpersonal practices themselves and several themes directly relating to them. Furthermore, all themes connected to a central theme labeled “interpersonal.”

 

For meditation, the sub-themes were “daily meditation”, “motivation”, and “motivation therapy.” The authors go on to explain that meditation brings about a sense of peace and connection, contributes to self-understanding, and promotes spiritual integration. The mindfulness sub-themes were “practising mindfulness”, “reason [for] mindfulness”, and “after mindfulness.” Benefits of mindfulness included stress reduction and present-moment awareness. Finally, the sub-themes for holotropic therapy were “benefit”, “therapeutic experience”, and “changes after therapy.” Holotropic therapy is described as helpful for emotional processing and resolution of trauma.

 

The authors conclude that spiritual integration is as important as intellectual and emotional integration but is often overlooked in conventional psychology. The results of the study do not seem to differ substantially from Western research, which suggests a degree of cross-cultural validity for some transpersonal practices. Furthermore, the publication of research promoting a transpersonal perspective in a non-Western context bodes well for the future of the transpersonal field.

Image credit: Gunawan Kartapranata

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Indonesia_Taiwan_Locator.svg

 

References

 

Harynto, S., & Muslih, M. (2025). The contribution of transpersonal psychology to the emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being of individuals. Islamic Guidance and Counseling Journal, 8(1), https://doi.org/10.25217/0020258549000.

Phan, H.P., Ngu, B.H., Chen, S.C., Wu. L., Shih, J.-H., & Shi, S.-Y. (2021). Life, death, and spirituality: a conceptual analysis for education research development. Heliyon, 7, e06971.

Phan, H.P., Ngu, B.H., Hsu, C.-S., Chen, S.-C., & Wu, L. (2024). Expanding the scope of "trans-humanism": situation within the framework of life and death education - the importance of a "trans-mystical mindset." Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1380665.

Short, Aidan W., and Matthew A. Streisfeld. "Disentangling Complex Histories of Hybridisation: The Genomic Consequences of Ancient and Recent Introgression in Channel Island Monkeyflowers." Molecular Ecology (2025): e17778.

 What They Did

The researchers examined the possibility of gene flow between different subspecies of monkeyflower, Mimulus aurantiacus. One subspecies, parviflorus, is only found on islands off the coast of California. Another subspecies, longiflorus, grows both on the islands and the mainland. The researchers compared DNA from both island and mainland populations of longiflorus, parviflorus, and aridus the sister subspecies of parviflorus.

Examining the whole genome at once shows that the two populations of longiflorus are most closely related to each other and that parviflorus is most closely related to aridus. Comparing only parts of the genome at a time, however, reveals where gene flow may have occurred. In some sections of the genome, the island population of longiflorus is more similar to parviflorus than to the mainland longiflorus population. This suggests that some gene flow occurred between the two subspecies on the island. In other parts of the genome, parviflora is more similar to both island and mainland longiflorus than it is to aridus, suggesting that there was some gene flow between the ancestor of parviflora and the ancestor of longiflorus, before the mainland and island populations diverged.

Looking more closely at one chromosome, they found a section where many alleles matched in parviflora and in island longiflorus, but not in aridus, the sister subspecies of parviflorus. They did not, however, see many matches between parviflora and island longiflorus that differed from mainland longiflorus. This suggests that gene flow caused adaptive changes in the parviflora genome but not the other way around.

Further Exploration

Back when I was a biology lab TA, I remember learning about some other monkeyflower that underwent “instant speciation” when there was a genome replication event. It’s not all that rare for the chromosomes to fail to separate during meiosis in plants, so that one gamete has a double set of chromosomes and one has none. When, for example, a diploid egg is fertilized by a haploid sperm, the resulting offspring is triploid, with three sets of chromosomes. Plants can often survive fine with extra sets of chromosomes, but when they undergo meiosis, the chromosome numbers might not be typical for their species, which can lead to reproductive isolation and speciation.

Monkeyflowers are often used in research about evolution and speciation because there’s a lot of phenotypic variation but still enough genetic similarity to cross taxa pretty easily. The plants also grow quickly and produce a lot of seeds (see https://monkeyflower.eeb.uconn.edu/a-new-genetic-model-system-monkeyflowers/). The different flower shapes and colors attract different pollinators, and the plants grow in all sorts of habitats and can be herbs or shrubs (see https://phytozome-next.jgi.doe.gov/info/Mguttatus_v2_0).

Since monkeyflowers of different species can often crossbreed, it’s not surprising that the subspecies mentioned in today’s journal article also show evidence of gene flow. The fact that (at least on one chromosome), alleles from longiflorus became fixed in parviflorus suggests that those alleles were useful enough to be selected for. It would be interesting to compare the areas of high gene flow on the other chromosomes, but that’s a rabbit hole for another day!

Image credit: Dawn Endico

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mimulus_aurantiacus_(148194242).jpg