The impact of religiosity, anxiety and depression on proneness to auditory hallucinations in healthy individuals
Background Auditory hallucinations (hearing voices in the absence of physical stimuli) are present in clinical conditions, but they are also experienced less frequently by healthy individuals. In the non-clinical population, auditory hallucinations are described more often as positive and not intr...
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Cambridge University Press
2025-07-01
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| Series: | BJPsych Open |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056472425107758/type/journal_article |
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| author | Chiara Lucafò Irene Ceccato Gianluca Malatesta Rocco Palumbo Nicola Mammarella Alberto Di Domenico Luca Tommasi Giulia Prete |
| author_facet | Chiara Lucafò Irene Ceccato Gianluca Malatesta Rocco Palumbo Nicola Mammarella Alberto Di Domenico Luca Tommasi Giulia Prete |
| author_sort | Chiara Lucafò |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Background
Auditory hallucinations (hearing voices in the absence of physical stimuli) are present in clinical conditions, but they are also experienced less frequently by healthy individuals. In the non-clinical population, auditory hallucinations are described more often as positive and not intrusive; indeed, they have received less attention.
Aims
The present study explores the phenomenology of non-clinical auditory hallucinations and their possible relationship with religiosity.
Method
Starting from previous findings suggesting that non-clinical auditory hallucinations are often described as a gift or a way to be connected with ‘someone else’, we administered standardised questionnaires to quantify proneness to experiencing auditory hallucinations, religiosity and anxiety/depression scores.
Results
Regression analysis carried out using an auditory hallucinations, index as the dependent variable on a final sample of 680 responders revealed that a total of 31% of the variance was explained by a five-steps model including demographic characteristics (i.e. being young, a woman and a non-believer) and negative (e.g. being afraid of otherworldly punishments) and positive (e.g. believing in benevolent supernatural forces) components of religiosity, anxiety and depression. Crucially, compared with believers, non-believers revealed higher scores in depression, anxiety and in a specific questionnaire measuring proneness to auditory hallucinations.
Conclusions
Results suggests that religiosity acts as a potential protective factor for proneness to paranormal experiences, but a complex relationship emerges between religious beliefs, mood alterations and unusual experiences.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d29c67afa2804a2eb57dfa01ea275be2 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2056-4724 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BJPsych Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-d29c67afa2804a2eb57dfa01ea275be22025-08-20T03:30:15ZengCambridge University PressBJPsych Open2056-47242025-07-011110.1192/bjo.2025.10775The impact of religiosity, anxiety and depression on proneness to auditory hallucinations in healthy individualsChiara Lucafò0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9126-0128Irene Ceccato1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4819-2120Gianluca Malatesta2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7658-2364Rocco Palumbo3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2385-5840Nicola Mammarella4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1240-702XAlberto Di Domenico5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9962-2891Luca Tommasi6Giulia Prete7https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9969-6404Department of Psychology, University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, ItalyDepartment of Psychology, University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, ItalyDepartment of Psychology, University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, ItalyDepartment of Psychology, University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, ItalyDepartment of Psychology, University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, ItalyDepartment of Psychology, University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, ItalyDepartment of Psychology, University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, ItalyDepartment of Psychology, University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy Background Auditory hallucinations (hearing voices in the absence of physical stimuli) are present in clinical conditions, but they are also experienced less frequently by healthy individuals. In the non-clinical population, auditory hallucinations are described more often as positive and not intrusive; indeed, they have received less attention. Aims The present study explores the phenomenology of non-clinical auditory hallucinations and their possible relationship with religiosity. Method Starting from previous findings suggesting that non-clinical auditory hallucinations are often described as a gift or a way to be connected with ‘someone else’, we administered standardised questionnaires to quantify proneness to experiencing auditory hallucinations, religiosity and anxiety/depression scores. Results Regression analysis carried out using an auditory hallucinations, index as the dependent variable on a final sample of 680 responders revealed that a total of 31% of the variance was explained by a five-steps model including demographic characteristics (i.e. being young, a woman and a non-believer) and negative (e.g. being afraid of otherworldly punishments) and positive (e.g. believing in benevolent supernatural forces) components of religiosity, anxiety and depression. Crucially, compared with believers, non-believers revealed higher scores in depression, anxiety and in a specific questionnaire measuring proneness to auditory hallucinations. Conclusions Results suggests that religiosity acts as a potential protective factor for proneness to paranormal experiences, but a complex relationship emerges between religious beliefs, mood alterations and unusual experiences. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056472425107758/type/journal_articleAuditory hallucinationsvoice hearingreligiositydepressionanxiety |
| spellingShingle | Chiara Lucafò Irene Ceccato Gianluca Malatesta Rocco Palumbo Nicola Mammarella Alberto Di Domenico Luca Tommasi Giulia Prete The impact of religiosity, anxiety and depression on proneness to auditory hallucinations in healthy individuals BJPsych Open Auditory hallucinations voice hearing religiosity depression anxiety |
| title | The impact of religiosity, anxiety and depression on proneness to auditory hallucinations in healthy individuals |
| title_full | The impact of religiosity, anxiety and depression on proneness to auditory hallucinations in healthy individuals |
| title_fullStr | The impact of religiosity, anxiety and depression on proneness to auditory hallucinations in healthy individuals |
| title_full_unstemmed | The impact of religiosity, anxiety and depression on proneness to auditory hallucinations in healthy individuals |
| title_short | The impact of religiosity, anxiety and depression on proneness to auditory hallucinations in healthy individuals |
| title_sort | impact of religiosity anxiety and depression on proneness to auditory hallucinations in healthy individuals |
| topic | Auditory hallucinations voice hearing religiosity depression anxiety |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056472425107758/type/journal_article |
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