Healthy schizotypy: the case of out-of-the-body experiences

The present study tested the hypothesis that a group of normal subjects rep orting at least one hallucinatory experience (an 'out-of-the-body' experien ce or OBE) could score highly on one of the factors of schizotypy without s coring highly on the rest. A total of 684 subjects were recruited, of whom 450 reported at least one OBE and 234 did not. They completed the Combined Schizotypal Traits Questionnaire of Bentall, Claridge, and Slade [Bentall, R. P., Claridge, G., & Slade, P. D. (1989): The multi-dimensional nature of schizotypal traits: a factor analytic study with normal subjects. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 28, 363-375]. A number of discriminant anal yses were carried out to compare different sub-groups of the. OBErs with su itable controls, using the factor scores on four factors as predictors of g roup membership (OBErs versus non-OBErs). It was found that OBErs scored si gnificantly higher than non-OBErs only on the first of the four factors, ab errant perceptions and beliefs, but not on the other three: cognitive disor ganisation with social anxiety, introvertive anhedonia, and asocial schizot ypy. The results are interpreted as supporting the idea of 'healthy schizot ypes' who are functional in spite of, and even in part because of, their an omalous perceptual and other experiences. It is argued that this idea fits best with a fully dimensional model of schizotypy, independent of, although causally related to, the disease process of schizophrenia itself. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.