Prosocial correlates of transformative experiences at secular multi-day mass gatherings

Humans have long sought experiences that transcend or change their sense of self. By weakening boundaries between the self and others, such transformative experiences may lead to enduring changes in moral orientation. Here we investigated the psychological nature and prosocial correlates of transformative experiences by studying participants before (n = 600), during (n = 1217), 0–4 weeks after (n = 1866), and 6 months after (n = 710) they attended a variety of secular, multi-day mass gatherings in the US and UK. Observations at 6 field studies and 22 online followup studies spanning 5 years showed that self-reported transformative experiences at mass gatherings were common, increased over time, and were characterized by feelings of universal connectedness and new perceptions of others. Participants’ circle of moral regard expanded with every passing day onsite—an effect partially mediated by transformative experience and feelings of universal connectedness. Generosity was remarkably high across sites but did not change over time. Immediately and 6 months following event attendance, self-reported transformative experience persisted and predicted both generosity (directly) and moral expansion (indirectly). These findings highlight the prosocial qualities of transformative experiences at secular mass gatherings and suggest such experiences may be associated with lasting changes in moral orientation.


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A multi-pronged investigation of prosocial change before, during, and after attending one of several multi-day mass gatherings.
Overall, the onsite sample included 625 men, 558 women, 32 fluid/other, with a mean age of 32.4 (SD = 11.4) and age range of 17 to 75. Fifty-seven percent had college degrees, and 37% made over $50,000. The sample skewed liberal, with a mean of 2.6 ("somewhat liberal") on a 7-point scale (1 = "extremely liberal", 7 = "extremely conservative"). Some differences between the events should be noted. While most events had an average age in the mid-thirties, Lightning in a Bottle attendees were significantly younger, with a mean age of 26. This is also reflected in the fact that fewer of them (47%) had graduated college. The event with the lowest income was Burning Nest (16% making $50,000 or more), as contrasted with Burning Man, with an average of 56% at that income level. Overall, participants in the overall sample were not particularly religious, with a mean of 2. We did not have a predetermined sample size as our aim was to collect as many participants as possible at each event location for maximal statistical precision. The sample sizes were sufficient to determine small to medium changes in prosocial orientation over time at multi-day mass gatherings.
Field site selection . We identified a set of field sites that varied independently on several features of scientific interest (see Table 1). After identifying two gift-economy field sites (Burning Man and Burning Nest), we then sought other locations that matched these events on critical features. Ultimately, we selected two market economy field sites on the West coast of the United States (Dirty Bird and Lightning in a Bottle) to match the geographical location of Burning Man; we also selected another market-economy event in the UK (Latitude) to match the location of Burning Nest. After we had identified the relevant locations, we reached out to local event organizers to obtain permission to collect data at the events.
Onsite data collection. At each of the field sites, 6-8 volunteer research assistants with a background in psychology and ethics training in human subjects research aided in data collection. Data collection was performed in consultation with third author S. Megan Heller, a cultural anthropologist with experience in field research at mass gatherings. Research assistants were instructed to recruit participants from a booth set up in well-trafficked event areas. Wearing white lab coats, they approached passersby and asked whether they were interested in taking part in an activity called "Play Games for Science." Notably, we did not mention transformative experience or prosocial change in our recruitment efforts in an attempt to minimize selection bias. Prior to data collection, all research assistants attended a training where they were instructed in data collection protocol and practiced the protocol on one another. After providing informed consent, participants answered the survey questions either on paper (Burning Man, Lightning in a Bottle, Latitude) or on electronic tablets (Burning Nest, Dirty Bird). Overall, the study took approximately 15 minutes for each participant to complete. Following completion, participants were given an opportunity to collect a prize and thanked for their participation.
Data collection started on August 1st, 2015 and ended on September 1st, 2020.
Participants were excluded based on the pre-established procedure of who responded anything other than "0" to the attention check "How many fatal heart attacks have you had?" (n = 26). In addition, we performed a post-hoc exclusion of participants who reported having been at the event for more than 7 days (n = 37, predominantly at Burning Man) since these generally consisted of event organizers, staff and committed event volunteers.

None
Any participant who wished to participate was admitted; thus there was no random assignment to condition. Events were treated as random effects. In addition, we controlled for demographics (i.e., gender, age, education, religiosity, and income), and "incidental variables" (i.e., mood, expectations and desires of having a transformative experience, and the use of psychoactive substances [binary-coded as -.5 or .5 and including euphorics, hallucinogens, stimulants, alcohol, narcotics, and cannabis]) in order to additionally account for between-event differences.