Opening to Awe: Psychedelic-Assisted Self-Transcendence and Positive Adult Development

Research into psychedelic substances has historically focused on clinical applications — particularly the treatment of psychiatric conditions — but a growing body of evidence and theoretical reasoning suggests that these compounds may also have utility in promoting positive adult development in non-clinical populations. Traits such as openness to experience, awe-proneness, and the capacity for self-transcendent mystical experiences have been identified as potential psychological mechanisms through which psychedelics might facilitate lasting changes in personality, values, and psychological adjustment and growth. This study sought to empirically investigate these relationships in a naturalistic sample, drawing on a positive developmental psychology framework. Specifically, it examined whether self-expansive (spiritual, autognostic, creative, expansive) psychedelic use predicts personality adjustment and growth, and whether these relationships are mediated by openness to experience, awe-proneness, and mystical experiences, and moderated by post-experience reflection and integration practices.

An online cross-sectional survey recruited 684 participants (age range 18–84 years; median age band 25–34) comprising psychedelic users and non-users. Self-expansive psychedelic use was assessed using a bespoke scale capturing the degree to which participants approached their psychedelic use with spiritual, autognostic, creative, or self-expansive intentions. Drug-use reflection and integration was assessed as a moderating variable. Mediators included trait openness to experience (from a validated personality inventory), awe-proneness (measured via the Awe Experience Scale), and self-reported mystical experiences (Mystical Experience Questionnaire). Outcomes comprised personality adjustment and personality growth (measured using validated development scales). Conditional process analysis (PROCESS macro, Model 8) was used for moderated-mediation path analysis, with age and sex included as covariates. Social desirability bias was also assessed.

Correlation analysis revealed moderate to strong positive intercorrelations among self-expansive psychedelic use, openness, awe-proneness, mystical experiences, adjustment, and growth. In the moderated-mediation models, self-expansive psychedelic use predicted awe-proneness when moderated by drug-use reflection: the relationship was significant only for those with high reflection scores, not for those with low reflection scores (simple slopes). Self-expansive use directly predicted mystical experiences without moderation by reflection (β = 0.32, p < 0.001, R² = 0.40). In the full mediated models, awe-proneness was the strongest predictor of both personality adjustment (β = 0.36, p < 0.001) and personality growth (β = 0.40, p < 0.001). Openness significantly predicted growth (β = 0.15, p < 0.001) but not adjustment. The indirect pathway from self-expansive psychedelic use to adjustment and growth through awe-proneness was moderated by drug-use reflection, such that it was statistically significant only among those who actively reflected on and integrated their experiences.

The results support the hypothesis that self-expansive psychedelic use is associated with positive adult development — specifically personality growth and adjustment — and that this relationship is mediated primarily by awe-proneness, with openness to experience as a secondary mediator for growth. Crucially, the moderating role of drug-use reflection and integration indicates that the developmental benefits of self-expansive psychedelic use are not automatic consequences of the experience itself, but are substantially amplified — and potentially dependent upon — intentional processing and meaning-making in the aftermath. The authors note that awe involves a characteristic sense of vastness and need for cognitive accommodation that may temporarily destabilise existing self-schemas and open space for new values and perspectives — consistent with a self-transcendence model of psychedelic-facilitated development. The cross-sectional design precludes causal inference: high levels of openness and development may lead individuals to engage in self-expansive psychedelic use rather than the reverse. Social desirability bias and sampling non-representativeness are acknowledged as further limitations.

This study provides empirical support for the role of self-expansive psychedelic use in promoting positive personality development, with awe-proneness emerging as the most consistent mediating pathway. Critically, the developmental benefits appear to be substantially moderated by drug-use reflection and integration, suggesting that intentional post-experience processing is a key determinant of outcomes. The findings position psychedelics not merely as clinical treatments but as potential tools for personal development, whilst highlighting the importance of set, integration, and intentionality in determining whether experiences are transformative or, in some cases, destabilising.