Abstract/Results:
| ABSTRACT:
Background
The present project moves inside the context of mediumship, that is, the ability,
reported by some people (defined as “mediums”) to communicate with the deceased or in general to make contact with non-physical entities or realities, with the aim to obtain some information otherwise impossible to know, through clairaudience, clairvoyance, telepathy or precognition. To the present day, the phenomenon appears to be so complex that it does not have a single definition.
Believing in life after death is of vital importance for many people, both for some religious reasons, and because it can promote the psychological wellbeing of bereaved people or of those who are affected by a serious illness and have therefore to face the end-of-life.
Aims
To study in a rigorous way mediumistic abilities through a quantitative and qualitative mixed-method approach.
Method
Two quantitative and two qualitative studies were carried out.
In the two quantitative studies (Tressoldi, Liberale, & Sinesio, 2022; Tressoldi, Liberale, & Sinesio, 2024) we applied a triple-blind protocol, with the mediums, and the proxy-sitters blind about the deceased information and the sitters blind about which of two readings is related to their deceased person.
In the two qualitative studies (Testoni, Pompele, Liberale & Tressoldi, 2022; Testoni, Pompele & Liberale, 2023), we applied individual interviews whosecontents were analyzed applying the Thematic Analysis procedure.
Results
The two quantitative studies confirmed that some self-defined mediums, are able to achieve correct information related to a specific deceased person having at disposal only his/her first name and without any possibility to retrieve this information by using conventional means.
The two qualitative studies offered a rich representation of both the experience of grievers as a consequence of a mediumship consultation and of “being” mediums.
Conclusions
Both the quantitative and qualitative results of the studies offer valuable information about mediumship and may be used as a motivating factor for others to replicate and extend the findings of this study with other samples of participants in different cultural contexts.
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