Ayahuasca Ritual, Personality and Sociality: Observational Research Conducted in a Substance Use Disorder Rehabilitation Center in Uruguay

ABSTRACT

The current article presents a mixed qualitative-quantitative observational study of the effect of ayahuasca ritual on subjective experiences and personality traits on participants of a center specialized in the treatment of substance use disorder in Uruguay. When comparing the psychological traits of ayahuasca participants to a control group, quantitative results using the Zuckerman-Kuhlman-Aluja Personality Questionnaire showed statistically significant higher scores in Impulsive Sensation Seeking, Boredom Susceptibility, and Social Warmth scales. Qualitative analysis of ayahuasca experiences resulted in five main categories: emotional experiences (including social emotions such as love and empathy), corporal experiences, spiritual/transcendental experiences, personal experiences, and visions. Last, qualitative descriptions provide support for the importance of social interactions in the phenomenological manifestations of the psychedelic experience. Both quantitative and qualitative results suggest that the combination of social interactions and the pharmacological action of ayahuasca could facilitate the manifestation of social emotions during the ritual, and may contribute to the long-term increase of empathic and social aspects of personality.

KEYWORDS:

• Ayahuasca
• ritual
• personality
• sociality
• subjective experiences
• SUD

Acknowledgments

The project is also framed within a line of research of our interdisciplinary research group of psychedelic studies Arché (Universidad de la República, website: https://arche.ei.udelar.edu.uy/). Last, we want to thank the center and all the participants of the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The research was funded by the Drug National Board of Uruguay Presidency (Fondo concursable 2018, Junta Nacional de Drogas, Presidencia de la República, Uruguay); and by the Interdisciplinary Faculty (Semilleros de Iniciativas Interdisciplinarias 2020, Espacio Interdisciplinario, Universidad de la República Convocatoria Semilleros Interdisciplinarios 2020).