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PsychologyMust Read
intermediate

The near-death experience scale: Construction, reliability, and validity

Greyson, Bruce (1983)

Published
Jun 1, 1983
Journal
Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease · Vol. 171 · No. 6
DOI
10.1097/00005053-198306000-00007

At a GlanceAI

The 16-item Greyson NDE Scale: the instrument almost every later NDE study relies on.

SummaryAI

Starting from 80 typical NDE features, Greyson built a 33-item questionnaire, tested it on 74 experiences, and kept 16 items that formed clinically meaningful clusters. The resulting scale showed high internal consistency and test-retest reliability, correlated strongly with Ring's WCEI, and separated clear NDE claims from questionable ones. A score of 7 or more later became the standard cut-off for counting an experience as an NDE.

Method SnapshotAI

Questionnaire construction, item analysis, reliability and validity testing.

BackgroundAI

Basic psychometrics (reliability, validity).

The scale that started quantitative academic research on NDEs. Pioneering work.

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