A new psychological study was recently conducted to define the science behind the raves. The research analyzed the conjoining factors that make up the psychological effects of rave, including active dancing, substances, rhythmic music, and even the lack of sleep. The authors of the study suggest that rave was proven to have an association with bodhi socialization and personal transformation.
Psychology Behind Rave Parties
The University of Oxford and University of Kent expert and the author of the study Martha Newson said in a PsyPost report that humans have a psychological tendency to bond be fused to a group. According to the expert, the main interest of the study was to identify the correlation between the bonding ability of a person to join a social group and the transformative experience they go through under the influence of psychedelics.
The study on the psychology of rave was made possible through the help of 481 adult participants that were recruited through online advertisements. The selected subjects were confirmed to have attended a rave five years before the study. The examination included a set of questions asking participants if the experience they felt during the rave were either profound or awe-inspiring. Moreover, there had been a phase where the participants were requested in-depth details about the specific rave parties they went to.
The authors based the analysis questions on a novel approach called the 4D, which includes drums, dance, sleep deprivation, and drugs. When the gathered data was compared, there had been high results from awe-inspired personal transformative experiences that manifested psychologically among the participants. This meant that the individuals who had engaged in processes of psychological state alteration, including dancing on electronic music rich in percussive elements, had more experience of awe on the rave they attended.
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Awe-Inspiring Raves in Transformative Experience and Social Bonds
Subjects who used drugs during their time at rave events were found to have felt more awe experience than the group that did not. The drugs recorded in the study that had a more awe impact on the participants are LSD, psilocybin, and other psychedelic drugs. According to the study, those who had 'higher' rave experience under the influence of the specified drugs tend to agree more on metaphoric statements such as "The event has shaped me as a person." In addition to the findings, people who had undergone a personal transformation during the rave events tend to have a stronger feeling of bonds with the crowd around them. The same cause also made the group offer financial donations to charities that are raised through rave events.
The 4D approach the experts developed had been utilized to identify those that did not experience any life-changing transitions. The experts said that some of the participants danced to repetitive, loud, and percussion-induced electronic music; stayed up all night; and took a lot of psychedelics during the raves.
The authors suggest that they had acquired low levels of awe and were just exhausted. Further studies will be made to understand the psychological factors and outcomes of rave and its corresponding elements. The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, titled "'I Get High With a Little Help From My Friends' - How Raves Can Invoke Identity Fusion and Lasting Co-operation via Transformative Experiences."
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