Results from Matrixwissen survey

In this article the results from the Matrixwissen survey on unusual life experiences will be published gradually as they become available.

History

Sept 18, 2016 - First publication of descriptive statistics (German only)
Oct 17, 2016 - Correlation analysis of different types of experiences added (German only)
April 21, 2017 - Correlation analysis of different personality types added, minor additions to descriptive statistics (German only)
April 22, 2017 - First publication of English translation of the results

General information regarding the survey

This survey was conducted from January 2015 until September 2016. Participants in the survey were visitors of my Matrixwissen.de website, which used the link to the survey displayed on the site.

A total of 489 people took part in the survey. Unfortunately only 372 data sets were complete. Completeness in this case means that the survey was answered at least until the end of the Big-Five personality test. Questionaires that were aborted before the personality test, were not used during the evaluation.

All participants have spent at least 15 minutes on the survey - some even spent more than 60 minutes answering it. (The different expenditure of time was caused by the design of the survey - since for every type of experience a participant claimed, additional questions related to that experience type were added dynamically to the survey). Many people have written long free text commentaries to explain their experience in more detail. In this survey only people took part who decided to do so out of their own choosing and there were no incentives offered which might have motivated people to give false or inaccurate answers. Based on the invested time, the many extensive commentaries and the lack of incentives for fakers, I consider the existing data credible and resilient.

One downside of drawing the sample for this survey from my Matrixwissen.de website was the existing bias towards openness for spiritual topics, which many readers of my website might have. Thus the collected data is not respresentative for the general population but rather reflects the characteristics of the readers of my website. During the time frame of January 2015 until September 2016 about 730.000 people have visited Matrixwissen.de. The participants of the survey represent 0.05 percent of all visitors. Now let's get started with reporting the results.

General information about the participants of the survey

Gender:

175 women (47.04%)
197 men (52.96%)

Age distribution:

Average age: 45.76
Youngest participant: 15 / Oldest participant: 86

umfrage 009 alter balkendiagram

Highest (school) graduation level:

(Remark: Several of these options where specific to the German school system, I kept the German terms instead of translating them into English as that might cause even more confusion...)

No high school graduation (yet): 9 (2,42%)
Option not applicable in English - Volks-/Hauptschulabschluss: 33 (8,87%)
Option not applicable in English - Realschulabschluss: 102 (27,42%)
Option not applicable in English - Fachhochschulreife: 53 (14,25%)
Option not applicable in English - Abitur: 130 (34,95%)
High school graduation (only for English participants): 45 (12,10%)

Attained level of professional education:

Vocational training: 123 (33,06%)
Master craftsman: 23 (6,18%)
Option not applicable in English - Fachhochschulabschluss: 44 (11,83%)
Option not applicable in English - Hochschulabschluss (Diplom): 29 (7,80%)
University degree (Bachelor): 36 (9,68%)
University degree (Master): 29 (7,80%)
University degree (PhD): 11 (2,96%)
None of these answers apply: 77 (20,70%)

Origin:

Even though the survey was available in German as well as in English, the majority of the participants originated from Germany (75%). Additionally 5% of the participants originated from these countries respectively: Austria, Switzerland and USA. The remaining 10% of the participants originated from a variety of countries (UK, Canada, India, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Turkey, as well as other countries from Europe, Africa and Asia).

Current form of employment:

Going to school / university: 41 (11,02%)
Blue-collar worker: 17 (4,57%)
Employee: 117 (31,45%)
Public servant / government employee: 13 (3,49%)
Self-employed: 82 (22,04%)
Retired: 40 (10,75%)
Currently unemployed and seeking work: 18 (4,84%)
Currently unemployed and not seeking work: 15 (4,03%)
None of these option apply to me: 29 (7,80%)

Current relationship status

Single: 114 (30,65%)
In a commited / steady relationship: 83 (22,31%)
In an open relationship: 18 (4,84%)
Married: 110 (29,57%)
Divorced: 35 (9,41%)
No answer: 12 (3,23%)

Family

The participants on average have 1.08 kids and 1.96 siblings.

Sexual orientation

heterosexual: 311 (83,60%)
gay: 3 (0,81%)
lesbian: 1 (0,27%)
bisexual: 13 (3,49%)
other: 3 (0,81%)
no answer: 41 (11,02%)

Questions related to world view and beliefs

Are you rather materialistically (=1) or spiritually (=5) oriented?

A clear bias towards spiritually oriented was observed, which can be attributed to the general interest into spiritual topics of the readers of my Matrixwissen.de website. Only 10 people (2.7%) considered themselves as materialistic (=1). The exact distribution is shown in the following diagram.
For later evaluations I have grouped everybody who answered this question with 1 or 2 into the group of the "materialistically oriented". In the same manner those who answered with 4 or 5 were assigned to the "spiritually oriented" group. Both groups will be refered to at a later stage of the evaluation.

umfrage 001 mat spirit

Which religious or spiritual tradition do you feel connected to?

In this question 170 people (45,7%) replied that they do not feel connected to any religious or spiritual tradition. 107 people (28,8%) feel connected to a spiritual trandition that was not specified by them. From the listed traditions Christianity was selected by 57 people (15,3%), whereas - surprisingly - not a single participant selected Islam. 23 people (6.2%) felt connected to Buddhism, the further numbers can be seen on the following graph: (sorry for the graph being in German)

umfrage 002 relig trad

Do you believe that events which happen in your life are primarily based on coincidence (=1) or primarily based on destiny (=5)?

Also in this answer a clear bias towards destiny was observed. 122 people (32.8%) chose 5 as answer, whereas 111 people (29.8%) chose 3 - so the middle between both extremes.
A second set of analysis groups was formed based here: Those who answered 1 or 2 were assigned to the "coincidence-oriented" group whereas those answering with 4 or 5 were assigned to the "destiny-oriented" group.

umfrage 003 zufall bestimmung

Do human beings have free will?

Yes: 311 (83,60%)
No: 61 (16,40%)

Do you believe in reincarnation?

Yes: 290 (77,96%)
No: 82 (22,04%)

Do you believe in the concept of karma?

Yes: 279 (75,00%)
No: 93 (25,00%)

Which statements about consciousness do you agree with (Remark: In this question it was possible to select as many options as people wanted)

My brain creates my consciousness: 51 (13,71%)
Consciousness is not created by the brain: 176 (47,31%)
Consciousness is an illusion: 29 (7,80%)
Consciousness is fundamental: 141 (37,90%)
Consciousness is the foundation of physical reality: 171 (45,97%)
Consciousness exists independant of space and timet: 252 (67,74%)
Consciousness is constrained by space and time: 25 (6,72%)
Consciousness is the biggeest mystery in our world: 140 (37,63%)
Animals like dogs or cats also have consciousness: 207 (55,65%)
I do not agree with any of these statements: 7 (1,88%)

How did your world view change in the course of your life?

In this question 133 people (35.75%) answered that their world view shifted radically and that they see the world in a completely different way today. 137 people (36.82%) reported a substancial change to their world view, for 55 of these 137 people the change was triggered by a specific event. For 81 people (21.77%) the change happened gradually in small steps and for the remaining 21 people (5.65%) their world view has not really changed much and remained relatively stable.

umfrage 004 weltbildveraenderung

How do you evaluate your own interest in paranormal topics (like near-death experiences, telepathy, precognition, remote viewing, etc)?

The replies to this question clearly reflect that the participants of this survey were recruited through my website, since readers of Matrixwissen.de have a special interest in these kind of topics. Thus 150 people (40.32%) are "extremely interested", 120 people (32.26%) are "very interested", 79 people (21.24%) are "interested", 18 people (4.84%) are "a little bit interested" and the remaining 5 people are either not interested or undecided.

umfrage 005 paranorm interesse

Unusual life experiences

Have you had a near-death experience?

Yes - 42 (11,29%)
No - 298 (80,11%)
Uncertain - 32 (8,60%)

Have you barely survived a life-threatening illness?

Yes - 60 (16,13%)
No - 292 (78,49%)
Uncertain - 20 (5,38%)

Have you experienced telepathy with a living human being or an animal?

Yes - 159 (42,74%)
No - 135 (36,29%)
Uncertain - 78 (20,97%)

Remark: The participants were also asked which form of telepathy they have experienced. For this question is was possible to select multiple options. The following forms of telepathic communication were reported:
- verbally - as a voice in my head - 58 (35,15%)
- visually - as images in my mind's eye - 68 (41,21%)
- emotionally - through feelings - 94 (56,97%)
- intuitively - as inner knowing without words - 116 (70,30%)
- olfactorically - as smells - 22 (13,33%)
- haptically - sensing a touch on your skin - 30 (18,18%)

Have you had a precognition which lateron actually happened?

Yes - 238 (63,98%)
No - 68 (18,28%)
Uncertain - 66 (17,74%)

Have you experienced an extraordinary synchronicity?

Yes - 194 (52,15%)
No - 111 (29,84%)
Uncertain - 67 (18,01%)

Have you seen / perceived auras?

Yes - 83 (22,31%)
No - 236 (63,44%)
Uncertain - 53 (14,25%)

Have you had an out-of-body experience?

Yes - 139 (37,37%)
No - 176 (47,31%)
Uncertain - 57 (15,32%)

Have you been successful at remote viewing?

Yes - 53 (14,25%)
No - 274 (73,66%)
Uncertain - 45 (12,10%)

Have you witnessed or caused telekinesis phenomena?

Yes - 39 (10,48%)
No - 300 (80,65%)
Uncertain - 33 (8,87%)

Have you had an experience of "missing time" (for at least one hour with no alcohol or drugs involved)?

Yes - 57 (15,32%)
No - 281 (75,54%)
Uncertain - 34 (9,14%)

Have you experienced a paranormal haunting (poltergeist, voices, etc)?

Yes - 104 (27,96%)
No - 230 (61,83%)
Uncertain - 38 (10,22%)

Have you seen / perceived a deceased individual or a ghost?

Yes - 101 (27,15%)
No - 234 (62,90%)
Uncertain - 37 (9,95%)

Have you seen a UFO?

Yes - 65 (17,47%)
No - 254 (68,28%)
Uncertain - 53 (14,25%)

Have you experienced an alien abduction?

Yes - 5 (1,34%)
No - 342 (91,94%)
Uncertain - 25 (6,72%)

Which influence have all experiences - for which you just replied with "Yes" - had collectively on your world view?

No influence - 62 (16.67%)
Minor influence - 42 (11.29%)
Moderate influence - 74 (19.89%)
Significant influence - 134 (36.02%)
The experience pretty much smashed my old world view to pieces - 60 (16.13%)

umfrage 006 einfluss weltbild

Which of the following options apply to you? (Remark: In this question it was possible to select as many options as people wanted)

Already as a young child I had memories about a previous life
- 27 (7,26%)
I currently remember a previous life (without undergoing regression therary)
- 33 (8,87%)
I currently remember a previous life (the memory came ack after I had regression therapy)
- 29 (7,80%)
As a child I had an "invisible friend" which my parents could not see
- 32 (8,60%)
As a child I had an "invisible pet" which my parents could not see
- 9 (2,42%)
As a child I had a traumatic experience (not necessarily a paranormal one) which significantly influenced my life
- 99 (26,61%)
I was sexually abused during my childhood
- 32 (8,60%)
I was sexually abused as a teenager
- 14 (3,76%)
None of these options apply to myself
- 206 (55,38%)

Do you have relatives or close friends which have told you about their own unusual experiences (any of the topics from the previous list)?

Yes - 235 (63,17%)
No - 137 (36,83%)

The subgroup of 235 people whose relatives or close friends have reported unusual experiences to them, have received reports from the following categories (Remark: In this question it was possible to select as many options as people wanted):

had a near-death experience (31,91%)
barely survived a life-threatening illness (33,19%)
experienced telepathy with a living human being or an animal (63,17%)
had a precognition which lateron actually happened (66,38%)
experienced an extraordinary synchronicity (45,11%)
have seen / perceived auras (38,72%)
had an out-of-body experience (43,40%)
were successful at remote viewing (17,45%)
witnessed or caused telekinesis phenomena (14,47%)
had an experience of "missing time" (for at least one hour and with no alcohol or drugs involved) (15,32%)
experienced a paranormal haunting (poltergeist, voices, etc) (48,94%)
saw / perceived a deceased individual or a ghost (48,94%)
saw a UFO (35,32%)
experienced an alien abduction (4,68%)
have memories of a previous life (31,49%)
had an invisible friend in their childhood (18,30%)
had an invisible pet in their childhood (6,38%)
experienced sexual abuse during their childhood (25,53%)
experienced sexual abuse as a teenager (21,28%)

How reliable do you consider the experiences reported by your relatives / good friends?

Absolutely not reliable - 9 (4.05%)
Rather not reliable - 9 (4.05%)
Neutral - 16 (7.21%)
Somewhat reliable (31.98%)
Absolutely reliable (52.70%)

umfrage 007 glaubwuerdigkeit

What influence did the experiences of your relatives / close friends have on your own world view?

Their experiences have not influenced my own world view at all - 32 (14.41%)
Their experiences had verly little influence on my own world view - 55 (24.77%)
Their experiences had some influence on my own world view - 88 (39.64%)
Their experiences had significant influence on my own world view - 45 (20.27%)
Their experiences pretty much smashed my own world view to pieces - 2 (0.90%)

umfrage 008 einfluss anderer auf weltbild

Correlation analysis between gender and types of experiences

A correlation analysis between gender and the different types of unusual experiences was performed in order to find out if specific experiences are happening more often to women or to men. For this analysis all cases where the answer "uncertain" was given, were not considered. This reduced the sample size for the evaluation but in most cases the remaining sample was still about 300 people, so a decent size for an evaluation.

For all laymen in statistics a short crash course introduction: The level of significance determines if a correlation between two variables is conspicuous. If it is smaller than 0.05 this implies the correlation is statistically significant. Values above 0.05 imply no obvious connection between the variables. The smaller the value the more "conspicuous" the connection. The second given value (Rho) allows a judgement on how strong the correlation is. In this case higher values imply a stronger correlation. Providing a value for Rho only makes sense, if a significant correlation exists at all (the level of significance is below 0.05)

Let's start with those types of experiences where no significant difference was found between women and men (sorted by significance - starting with the least significant values):

Experiencing an unusual synchronicity (Level of significance 0.923)
- 102 men und 92 women reported experiencing an unusual synchronicity
Seeing a UFO (Level of significance 0.663)
- 36 men 29 women reported seeing a UFO
Experiencing "missing time" of more than 1 hour with no drugs involved (Level of significance 0.493)
Having an out-of-body experience (Level of significance 0.416)
- 68 women and 71 men reported having an out of body experience
Being successful at remote viewing (Level of significance 0.189)
Experiencing or causing telekenisis effects (Level of significance 0.179)
Having a near-death experience (Level of significance 0.128)
- Out of the 372 participants 42 had a near-death experience (24 women and 18 men)
Surviving a life-threatening illness (Level of significance 0.086)

Women had significantly more of the following types of experiences compared to men (sorted by significance, starting with most significant):

Seeing / perceiving a deceased individual or a ghost (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.247)
- 66 women but only 35 men had this experience
Experiencing telepathy with a living human being or an animal (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.238)
- 92 women but only 67 men had this experience
Seeing / perceiving auras (Level of significance 0.003 / Rho 0.203)
- 57 women but only 34 men had this experience
Experiencing a paranormal haunting (poltergeist, voices, etc) (Level of significance 0.020 / Rho 0.127 )
- 59 women but only 45 men had this experience
Having a precognition which lateron actually happened (Level of significance 0.044 / Rho 0.137)
- 84 women but only 72 men had this experience

The only option which was not evaluated statistically was the question related to having experienced an alien abduction since out of th 372 participants only 2 women and 3 men reported having this experience which is not enough for making a statistical analysis. Interestingly 25 people answered this question with "I am uncertain".

Additionally there is no significant difference between women and men related to the following questions / statements:

Do you believe in reincarnation? (Level of significance 0.162)
- 142 women and 148 men believe in reincarnation
Do human beings have free will? (Level of significance 0.077)
- 140 women and 171 men believe that human beings have free will
Do you believe int he concept of karma? (Level of significance 0.168)
- 137 women and 142 men believe in karma
My brain creates my consciousness (Level of significance 0.070)
- 18 women and 33 men believe this statement is true

Significant differences between men and women exist for the following statements:

Consciousness is fundamental (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.226)
- 95 men but only 46 women believe this statement is true
Consciousness is the foundation of physical reality (Level of significance 0.049 / Rho 0.102)
- 100 men but only 71 women believe this statement is true

Correlation analysis between certain attitudes / beliefs and having specific types of unusual experiences

Free will

The correlation between the belief that human beings have free will and the list of 14 types of unusual experiences was evaluated. Out of the 14 experiences only "Seeing / perceiving a deceased individual or a ghost" showed a significant correlation with the belief in free will (Level of significance 0.030 / Rho -0.119). The correlation is negative, so people who do not believe in free will, report these experiences more often. With Rho at a level of -0.119 this is a rather small effect but for all other types of experiences there was no significant correlation at all.

Belief in reincarnation

Several conspicuous correlations have been found while analyzing how the belief in reincarnation relates to having specific types of unusual experiences. Highly significant correlations where found for:

Experiencing telepathy with a living human being or an animal (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.272)
Seeing / perceiving a deceased individual or a ghost (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.220)
Experiencing an unusual synchronicity (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.219)
Seeing a UFO (Level of significance 0.001 / Rho 0.183)
Out-of-body experiences (Level of significance 0.001 / Rho 0.182)
Experiencing a paranormal haunting (poltergeist, voices, etc) (Level of significance 0.002 / Rho 0.169)

No direct correlation to the belief in reincarnation was found for the following types of experiences:

Having a precognition which lateron actually happened (Level of significance 0.976)
Having a near-death experience (Level of significance 0.803)
Surviving a life-threatening illness (Level of significance 0.742)

Belief in karma

The following significant connections where found when analyzing the correlation of belief in karma with the 14 types of experiences:

Experiencing telepathy with a living human being or an animal (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.205 )
Experiencing an unusual synchronicity (Level of significance 0.001 / Rho 0.187)
Seeing a UFO (Level of significance 0.018 / Rho 0.132)
Experiencing a paranormal haunting (poltergeist, voices, etc) (Level of significance 0.036 / Rho 0.115)

No direct correlation to the belief in karma was found for the following types of experiences:

Having a near-death experience (Level of significance 0.886)
Seeing / perceiving a deceased individual or a ghost (Level of significance 0.545)
Out-of-body experiences (Level of significance 0.331)
Surviving a life-threatening illness (Level of significance 0.212)
Having a precognition which lateron actually happened (Level of significance 0.169)

For the last two analysis certain parallels and differences are visible:

The belief in karma and in reincarnation both show a connection to experiencing telepathy, to experiencing unusual synchronicities and to seeing a UFO.
But there is also an interesting difference: The belief in reincarnation shows a direct connection to seeing deceased individuals or ghosts but for the belief in karma the same type of experience shows no connection.

A fun fact from the analysis: While the measured karma-related correlations have all been positive (who believes in karma also has more of the corresponding experiences) there was one exception: Surviving a life-threatening illness showed a negative correlation but in this case the result was not significant (Level of significance 0.212). Anyway this seemed like a funny aspect. Maybe it is better to not believe in karma when you're trying to cheat death ;-)

Spiritual versus materialistic orientation

One assumption of the survey evaluation was, that people who showed higher spiritual orientation - on the materialistic to spiritual spectrum - would also report unusual experiences more often. This correlation exists for certain types of experiences but not for all. Significant correlations where found for:

Seeing / perceiving a deceased individual or a ghost (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.284)
Out of body experiences (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.273)
Experiencing telepathy with a living human being or an animal (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.271)
Experiencing an unusual synchronicity (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.260)
Experiencing a paranormal haunting (poltergeist, voices, etc) (Level of significance 0.017 / Rho 0.189)
Experiencing or causing telekenisis effects (Level of significance 0.029 / Rho 0.178)
Being successful at remote viewing (Level of significance 0.031 / Rho 0.180)

No correlations where found for the following types of experiences:

Having a precognition which lateron actually happened (Level of significance 0.741)
Having a near-death experience (Level of significance 0.696)
Seeing / perceiving auras (Level of significance 0.449)
Seeing a UFO (Level of significance 0.409)
Surviving a life-threatening illness (Level of significance 0.082)

Furthermore the participants were asked how religious they considered themselves. Only those 91 people were asked this question how answered in a previous question, that they felt connected to a religious tradition. A correlation analysis between their reply on how religious they considered themselves and the 14 types of experiences was performed but for 13 out of the 14 experience types no correlation was found. The only significant correlation (Level of significance 0.016) was found for "surviving a life-threatening illness". The effect had a Rho value of 0.365 which is an unusually strong effect compared to the other discovered correlations. This was an unexpected find and it implies the relevance of religious belief in the healing process.

Destiny versus coincidence

The participants were asked if they considered the events that they experienced in life to be rather destiny or coincidence. Also for this response the correlation to the 14 different types of experiences were evaluated. Significant correlations to believing in destiny were found for these experiences:

Experiencing telepathy with a living human being or an animal (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.313)
Experiencing an unusual synchronicity (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.286)
Out of body experiences (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.261)
Seeing / perceiving a deceased individual or a ghost (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.249)
Experiencing a paranormal haunting (poltergeist, voices, etc) (Level of significance 0.001 / Rho 0.232)

During the evaluation of the destiny versus coincidence variable a couple of consistency tests were performed. For example it would be expected that the belief in destiny directly correlates with the belief in karma - which it does (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.338), but the correlation between believing in destiny and the belief in reincarnation is even stronger (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.461).

Correlation with traumatic experiences during childhood

99 participants have reported a traumatic childhood experience which had a significant impact on their lives. The nature of the experience was not reported but the experience seems to have had an impact on unusual life experiences lateron since the following correlations were found for people with a traumatic childhood experience:

Experiencing out of body experiences (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.245)
Being successful at remote viewing (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.205)
Experiencing "missing time" of more than 1 hour with no drugs involved (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.205)
Having a near-death experience (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.203)
Experiencing an unusual synchronicity (Level of significance 0.003 / Rho 0.172)
Experiencing telepathy with a living human being or an animal (Level of significance 0.006 / Rho 0.160)

It should also be mentioned that there is a significant correlation (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.358) between having had a traumatic childhood experience and being sexually abused during childhood. In many cases the traumatic experience might have been a sexual abuse. Several discovered correlations are also found when checking for direct correlations between experience types with sexual abuse during childhood but the effects are smaller in that case. There seem to be no correlations when the sexual abuse happened when the person was a teenager.

Correlations between the different types of unusual experiences

Since the evaluation of beliefs in karma and reincarnation have shown a clear correlation, it was now evaluated if the three identified types of experiences which showed up in all three previous evaluations also show correlations to other kinds of experiences.

Telepathy

For a person, that reports to have experienced telepathy, the following other types of experiences show a significant correlation:

Experiencing an unusual synchronicity (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.557)
Being successful at remote viewing (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.342)
Out of body experiences (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.332)
Experiencing or causing telekenisis effects (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.299)
Experiencing a paranormal haunting (poltergeist, voices, etc) (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.299)

Synchronicities

For a person, that reports unusual synchronicities, the following other types of experiences show a significant correlation:

Experiencing telepathy with a living human being or an animal (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.557)
Out of body experiences (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.361)
Having a precognition which lateron actually happened (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.309)
Being successful at remote viewing (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.284)

Seeing a UFO

The third evaluated aspect was related to people who reported a UFO sighting. For these people the following significant correlations to other types of experiences were found:

Experiencing a paranormal haunting (poltergeist, voices, etc) (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.346)
Being successful at remote viewing (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.274)
Experiencing or causing telekenisis effects (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.259)

Frequency of experiences

Besides the question if someone had a particular experience, it was also evaluated how often this experience occured and if there is a correlation between frequent occurances of different experience types. The evaluation showed that particularly experiences of paranormal hauntings (poltergeist, voices, etc) occur in tandem with the following other experience types (whereupon the first one is kind of obvious):

Frequent seeing / perceiving a deceased individual or a ghost (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.683)
Frequent out of body experiences (Level of significance 0.008 / Rho 0.340)
Frequent experiences of "missing time" of more than 1 hour with no drugs involved (Level of significance 0.046 / Rho 0.395)

A further correlation of frequent occurances (Level of significance of 0.043 and a Rho of 0.344) was found between "frequent remote viewing" and "frequent out-of-body experiences", but his correlation was to be expected since both experience types are closely related.

Correlations between unusal experiences and personality traits

An important part of the survey was the Big Five personality test consisting of 44 questions. The answers to these questions were converted into the 5 personality factors known as the Big Five, which shall only be introduced in a very brief fashion here. If you are looking for more information on them, you could start by reading the Wikipedia article on the Big Five, from which also the following typical personality traits for each of the 5 factors are cited. Additionally you find the distribution of the Matrixwissen sample for each factor:

1. Openness to experience

Openness reflects the degree of intellectual curiosity, creativity and a preference for novelty and variety a person has
typical for low values (=1): conservative, careful
typical for high values (=5): creative, inquisitive
Average of Matrixwissen sample: 4.01
Depending on age - the average values of the population range from 3.80 to 3.95

Distribution in the Matrixwissen sample:

umfrage 010 BFI Openness

2. Conscientiousness

A tendency to be organized and dependable, show self-discipline, act dutifully, aim for achievement, and prefer planned rather than spontaneous behavior.
typical for low values (=1): easygoing, negligent
typical for high values (=5): effective, organized
Average of Matrixwissen sample: 3.47
Depending on age - the average values of the population range from 3.45 to 3.90

Distribution in the Matrixwissen sample:

umfrage 010 BFI Openness

3. Extraversion

Energy, positive emotions, surgency, assertiveness, sociability and the tendency to seek stimulation in the company of others, and talkativeness
typical for low values (=1): reluctant, aloof
typical for high values (=5): sociable
Average of Matrixwissen sample: 3.28
Depending on age - the average values of the population range from 3.10 to 3.30

Distribution in the Matrixwissen sample:

umfrage 010 BFI Openness

4. Agreeableness

A tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious and antagonistic towards others. It is also a measure of one's trusting and helpful nature, and whether a person is generally well-tempered or not
typical for low values (=1): competitive, antagonistic
typical for high values (=5): cooperative, kind, compassionate
Average of Matrixwissen sample: 3.62
Depending on age - the average values of the population range from 3.64 to 4.00

Distribution in the Matrixwissen sample:

umfrage 013 BFI Agreeableness

5. Neuroticism

The tendency to experience unpleasant emotions easily, such as anger, anxiety, depression, and vulnerability. Neuroticism also refers to the degree of emotional stability and impulse control and is sometimes referred to by its low pole, "emotional stability"
typical for low values (=1): confident, calm
typical for high values (=5): emotional, vulnerable
Average of Matrixwissen sample: 2.62
Depending on age - the average values of the population range from 2.92 to 3.32

Distribution in the Matrixwissen sample:

umfrage 014 BFI Neuroticism

Remarks on these results: The mentioned Big Five average values should only be considered as a rough guidance for values of the average population. They stem from a large internet survey of the University of Berkeley. In general no norm values are provided for this test because the values depend on age and should be treated with care. Additionally development trends can be observed within the Big Five, for example openness and neuroticism tend to drop with age, whereas agreeableness and conscientiousness tend to increase with age.

Contrary to my original expectation that the Matrixwissen sample might show values significantly above average for the openness factor, these values are only slightly above average. On the other hand neuroticism in the Matrixwissen sample is significantly below the given average values.

Correlation analysis related to the Big Five personality factors

One question the survey tried to investigate was if there are correlations between the 5 personality factors and the type of experiences a person had. The following correlations where discovered:

Experiencing telepathy

For this type of experience correlations with 4 personality factors were observed:
- Conscientiousness ( Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.206 )
- Offenheit ( Level of significance 0.001 / Rho 0.189 )
- Extraversion ( Level of significance 0.002 / Rho 0.177 )
- Agreeableness ( Level of significance 0.045 / Rho 0.117 )
Remark: Experiencing telepathy was the only type of experience which showed a significant correlation with 4 of the 5 personality factors. That conscientiousness showed the strongest correlation might indicate the necessity to handle the received telepathic information in a diligent manner in order to receive any information at all. Additionally trust seems to play an important role: The more detailed evaluation of the participant's replies showed that 54.5% of the people they had telepathic contact with were people whom they "trusted completely".

Being successful at Remote Viewing

For this type of experience correlations with 3 personality factors were observed:
- Openness to experience ( Level of significance 0.001 / Rho 0.176 )
- Conscientiousness ( Level of significance 0.002 / Rho 0.171 )
- Agreeableness ( Level of significance 0.010 / Rho 0.143 )

Surviving a life-threatening illness

For this type of experience correlations with 3 personality factors were observed:
- Conscientiousness ( Level of significance 0.001 / Rho 0.169 )
- Extraversion ( Level of significance 0.007 / Rho 0.142 )
- Agreeableness ( Level of significance 0.018 / Rho 0.126 )

Experiencing or performing telekinesis

For this type of experience correlations with 2 personality factors were observed:
- Openness to experience ( Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.197 )
- Conscientiousness ( Level of significance 0.013 / Rho 0.135 )

Having out-of-body experiences

For this type of experience correlations with 2 personality factors were observed:
- Openness to experience ( Level of significance 0.002 / Rho 0.172 )
- Agreeableness ( Level of significance 0.016 / Rho 0.136 )
Remark: A more detailed evaluation which focused on the amount of out of body experiences a person had, did not anymore show the significant correlation to openness, whereas the correlation to agreeableness was even stronger in that case (Level of significance 0.001 / Rho 0.286).

Seeing / perceiving ghosts or deceased individuals

For this type of experience correlations with 2 personality factors were observed:
- Conscientiousness ( Level of significance 0.005 / Rho 0.153 )
- Agreeableness ( Level of significance 0.017 / Rho 0.130 )

For the following types of experiences only correlations with one personality factor were found:

Experiencing an unusual synchronicity
- Correlation with openness ( Level of significance 0.001 / Rho 0.187 )
Experiencing "missing time" of more than 1 hour with no drugs involved
- Correlation with openness ( Level of significance 0.003 / Rho 0.164 )
Having a precognition which lateron actually happened
- Correlation with extraversion ( Level of significance 0.034 / Rho 0.144 )
Having a near-death experience
- Correlation with extraversion ( Level of significance 0.027 / Rho 0.120 )
Experiencing a paranormal haunting (poltergeist, voices, etc)
- Correlation with conscientiousness ( Level of significance 0.039 / Rho 0.113 )

For the following types of experiences no correlations with any of the personality factor were found:

Seeing a UFO
- Remark: When replacing the question if someone saw a UFO with the question how often a UFO was seen, a significant correlation with extraversion can be observed (Level of significance 0.048 / Rho 0.246). Additionally a considerable negative correlation with openness can be observed ( Rho = -0.196) but it is not significant, thus normally it would not even be reported but I found the negative prefix was worth mentioning.
Seeing auras

Remarks regarding the results

In general the frequent and expected correlations with the openness factor stand out. Openness proved as significant for 6 types of experiences but the same also applies to conscientiousness. Agreeableness was significant for 5 types of experiences and extraversion showed up 4 times. Neuroticism on the other hand did not have significant correlations with any of the 14 experience types.
- Interestingly the factor openness is missing for the two very similar experience types "Experiencing a paranormal haunting" and "Seeing / perceiving ghosts or deceased individuals" but both experience types share conscientiousness as a common factor. That conscientiousness has so many correlations to different experience types is a bit surprising since the personality traits associated with it are: "thoroughly, planning, effective, responsible, reliable, considerate". When asking the average citizen whom they expect to have these kind of unusual experiences you will probably get "wackos" as response, since the media likes to portray it this way. The evaluation of the Matrixwissen survey supports the opposite.
  - The unusually low average of the Matrixwissen sample when it comes to conscientiousness does not quite fit with the relevance of the factor for having these kinds of experiences.
The neuroticism factor showed no significant correlation to any of the experience types. The Rho values did indicate a negative correlation for most of the experience types. So the more neurotic a person is, the less probable the corresponding experiences seems to be. Significant negative correlations with neuroticism were measured when looking at the frequency / number of unusual experiences.

Changes in world view

The participants were asked to what extent their world view had changed during their life (see graph shown before for "How did your world view change in the course of your life?"). It was assumed that particularly the personality factor "openness to experience" would play an important role in this change but the evaluation of all 5 personality factors with respect to the answer of this question showed no significant correlation whatsoever. "Openness" was actually the least significant factor (Level of significance 0.619) whereas "Conscientiousness" was almost significant (Level of significance 0.058).

I'm not sure how to interprete the lack of influence of the openness factor. Maybe the self-evaluation of how one's world view changed is not a reliable variable.
I have tried to remove the "special event" aspect of the question by merging option 3 and 4 into one option, but this only had minor influence on the result. "Conscientiousness" just reached the threshold of becoming significant (level 0.05) but the Rho value of 0.102 indicates a weak effect. The level of significance for "openness" dropped to 0.768 through the merging of option 3 and 4.

In order to evaluate the aspect of the changes in world view more thoroughly, the participants were asked which influence the unusual experiences they have had (all 14 different experience types combined - or those of them which they actually experienced) had on their world view. The corresponding graphic was shown before (see question "Which influence have all experiences - for which you just replied with "Yes" - had collectively on your world view?").

The correlation analysis between the 5 personality factors and the answer to this question showed 2 highly significant correlations:
- Openness to experience (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho 0.215)
- Conscientiousness (Level of significance 0.001 / Rho 0.168)
So there is a connection between high values in openness and larger changes in world view by unusual experiences. Unfortunately it is not possible to determine any causality (e.g. experience causing more openness or more openness opening a doorway to have more experiences in the first place) because for causal evaluations measurement data before and after the experience is required.

Other factors of influence on experiences

A couple of other factors of influence were investigated, e.g. how the level of education (determined by having a university degree) is correlated with specific experiences. In this case the only correlation that was found was a negative one between higher education (having a university degree) and experiencing a haunting (e.g. poltergeist). The strength of the effect (Level of significance 0.011 / Rho -0.138) did not change when differentiating if people had a bachelor, a masters or a PhD degree. The negative correlation might just imply that people with higher education are in general not so easily convinced that they really experienced a haunting and are maybe more aware about tricks that might be played on them as well as alternative explanations.

In order to test the previous hypothesis the level of school education of participants from Germany was investigated more closely since in Germany we have 3 different levels on which you can graduate from school (after grade 9, after grade 10 and after grade 12/13). The following negative correlations where found (whereby a negative correlation means a person with a higher education level is less likely to have the listed kind of experiences):
- Experiencing a haunting (e.g. poltergeist) (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho -0.258)
- Seeing a UFO (Level of significance 0.000 / Rho -0.225)
- Seeing / perceiving ghosts or deceased individuals (Level of significance 0.003 / Rho -0.175)
- Experiencing telepathy (Level of significance 0.022 / Rho -0.145)
- Having an out of body experience (Level of significance 0.038 / Rho -0.127)
For the remaining 9 types of experiences no significant correlations were found. It is an interesting find, that the level of school education shows such a strong correlation particularly to the first 3 listed experience types because I would classify them as a group of "outward oriented" experiences that have more potential for misinterpretation or flawed observation compared to many of the other experience types that can be considered more "inward oriented". To clarify this distiction with "outward oriented" I am particular refering to the sense of sight and observing reality with our physical eyes, whereas "inward orientation" is seen as a more inner intuitive way of perceiving the world. I am not sure why telepathy and out-of-body experiences - which I would consider as "inward oriented" - also show up here but their level of significance differs by the power of ten and their effect sizes are smaller than the first 3 experience types.

The factor of sexual orientation played hardly any role with respect to having particular unusual experiences.