Near-Life Experiences

So-called near-death experiences are really encounters with the Light.
They occur to people during meditative or spiritual experiences,
not just during life-threatening trauma.
Perhaps a better name then is Near-Life Experiences

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Statistical Summary of Near-Death
Experience Reports
Based upon reports from the International Association
for Near-Death Studies (IANDS)

By Vince Migliore
May, 2007
 

I. Executive Summary

A. Summary

A sample of 787 near-death experience (NDE) reports collected by the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS)
are summarized in this document. Accounts date from the 1960s to 2001. The sample is not representative of the US population, as it was
collected over the Internet, by mail, and by verbal reports from around the world. Respondents are more often female and in the younger
age groups than both the US and world populations. The sheer number of cases, however, makes this a valuable resource for researchers
and investigators. The database of reports supplied by IANDS required editing and coding in order to adapt it to statistical data processing.

This summation of survey results lists major findings and cross-tabulations, without speculation or attempts to formulate a theory of how
NDEs relate to human or spiritual experiences.

 Some of the more interesting significant cross-tabulations appear below. For further details see the cross-tab notes after each table,
and in the appendices.

• Most NDE events are considered wonderful, 54.0%, while 37.3% have mixed perceptions. Only 8.6% describe their experience as frightening.
• Sometimes, an important finding is that there are no significant differences between groups. No differences in near-death experiences were found for
  white versus non-white respondents.  Similarly, there were very few differences between those experiences occurring  inside versus outside of the
  United States.  
• The NDE contains many common elements. Two thirds report an out-of-body experience, and almost as many see a light. More than half report strong
  emotional tone and receiving knowledge. Almost half report seeing unearthly beings.
• The out-of-body experience is more often reported by those under 40 years of age. For the total sample 67.7% report an out-of-body episode,
  but this is significantly lower at 59.6% for those aged 40 to 49, and 48.4% for those 50 and older. The highest incidence is 76.2% in the 10 to 19
  year age group. An out-of-body is also more often associated with clinical death, 75.1% versus 63.0% for those with a non-life threatening event.
• Encountering unearthly beings is higher for females, 53.1%, compared to males, 40.3%.
• Reports of both darkness and void drop off significantly after age 50. Darkness and void are higher for those reporting a frightening experience.
• A life review is least common for those aged 50 and over. Their rate of reporting is 10.9%, about half of the total sample, 21.6%. The life review is
  also higher for those who report clinical death.
• Changes in feelings about death are reported highest for those who also report a wonderful experience, 86.5% versus 75.4% for those with a frightening
  experience. It was also highest for those who reported clinical death, 87.8% compared to 83.0% for the whole sample.
• The development of healing and psychic abilities is significantly higher among women, 71.4%, compared to men, 60.7%. Such abilities occur most often
  for those who report clinical death, 75.5%, compared to 61.9% for those with a non-life threatening experience.

II.  Sample Considerations

A. Sampling Error

The reports submitted to the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS) represent a convenience sample, as self-selecting
respondents voluntarily submitted the data. This creates sampling errors; those factors that render the sample less than perfect because of the
way the data was collected. The fact that the sample is over 700 cases, however, provides a strong possibility that widespread representation
of near-death experience (NDE) are included in this database. The multiple-source sample also shows a skewing by age and gender,
compared to the known population of the US. The tables in this section omit respondents from other countries, in order to compare the
American respondents to US Census data from the year 2000.

Your age at time of experience:
Your gender:

The age of reporters at the time of their experience is skewed toward younger age groups, with people over 50 under-represented in the
sample (Table 1). Likewise, women are over-represented in the sample (Table 2). This type of error makes it difficult to tell, for example,
if women actually have more NDEs, or, more likely, they simply report their experiences more often than men.

Table 1. Age at time of experience versus US population.

Table 2. Gender versus US population.

Most reports were received from people within the US (Table 3). Europe provided the next largest group of contributors. The survey
results presented here cannot be projected to represent the population of the US, or the world population, but rather simply summarize
the reports collected by IANDS up to 2001.

Table 3. Country of report.

Age now

Most of those who experienced an NDE reported it during middle age (Table 4). Since most of the experiences occurred prior to age 30,
and most reporting occurs after age 30, it appears there is a long lag between the event and the time of reporting for this sample.

Table 4. Age at time of reporting the event. Total sample.

B. Editing, Coding, and Data Clean-up

Data editing and recoding is often required on a raw database when respondent information is unclear or contradictory. For example, in the
question Your Condition During the Experience, someone may check “Other”, then go on to describe a drowning where they were
underwater for 15 minutes, with no vital signs. This must be recoded from “Other” into the “Clinical Death” category. All edits and recoding
were reviewed by three researchers in a procedure whereby two researchers agree on the recoding, and a third reviews the procedure and
acts as a tie-breaker.

Two important variables, Your Condition During the Experience, and Circumstances of Your Experience, required extensive
editing and recoding, while other variables required only minor editing. The Circumstances question required the creation of a few new
response categories. Respondent comments to questions, captured along with the numerical data, were used to guide the recoding decisions.

III. Findings and Cross-Tabulations

A. Causes and Circumstances


Q1. Your condition during the experience:

Clinical death occurred in one fourth of the sample population, 24.8%, while serious conditions occurred in 39.1% (Table 5). This is a
difficult question to answer due to the lack of clinical data, which often makes it impossible to tell which category applies. Such uncertainty
diminishes the value of the results. It is interesting that approximately one quarter of all respondents, 24.3%, report the experience was
triggered by a non-life threatening situation. Apparently, the definition of “near-death experience” must be examined and clearly defined
for respondents.

Table 5. Your condition during the experience.

Significant Cross-tab Findings:

• Male respondents report clinical death more often than female respondents, 28.7% versus 21.8% respectively.
• Those who indicate poor health at the time of their experience report clinical death more often. Likewise, non-life threatening NDEs are more
  often reported by those in good to excellent health 31.1% versus 12.8% for those in poor to fair health.

 Q2. Circumstances of the experience:

As with Q1, this topic poses difficulties, as often there are multiple, overlapping triggers to the NDE experience (Table 6). Accidents
and illnesses are the most common causes.

Table 6. Circumstances of experience.

Significant Cross-tab Findings:

• Accidents are reported more often by those under 10 years of age, and among males. Accidents account for 27.8% of all NDEs, but that is much
  higher for children under 10, at 45.1%.
• Illness is reported more often by females, 15.9% as opposed to 10.8% for males.
• Heart attacks are reported more often by men, and those 40 years of age or older. Men report a 9.8% incidence compared to 2.8% for women.
  Heart attacks constitute 5.9% of the total causes of NDEs, but among those who indicate clinical death, heart attacks account for 14.5% of cases.

Respondents were asked to rate their health at the time of their NDE experience, and now (at the time of reporting), both using a 4-point
scale (Tables 7 and 8). Those who report good or excellent health rose from 68.7% of respondents at the time of their NDE, to 81.4% at
the time of reporting. Health factors inherently play a role in precipitating the experience.

Table 7. Health status at the time of the experience.

Significant Cross-tab Findings:

• Respondents under 30 report excellent health more frequently. Those under the age of 10 at the time of their experience report being in excellent
  health 47.1% of the time, 51.6% for those 10 to 19, and 43.5% for those in their 20s.
• Those who report excellent health are more likely to report a wonderful NDE and also tend to be more liberal religiously. Excellent health is reported
  by 37.8% of all respondents but this jumps to 44.2% for those with a wonderful experience, and 44.7% among religious liberals. Indeed, those who
  report their NDE was generated by a non-life threatening event have a relatively high incidence of excellent health, at 49.1%, when compared to
  34.0% for those who report clinical death.

Q4. Your status of health now:

Current health status, which was given at the time of reporting the event, was higher than at the time of the NDE experience. There is often
a long lag between the time of the experience and the reporting of the event.

Table 8. Health status at the time of reporting.

Significant Cross-tab Findings:

• 37.3% of all respondents indicate their health is excellent at the time of reporting. This is higher for those who are religious liberals (43.8%), and with
  those who reported excellent health at the time of their NDE (42.2%).

B. Perceptions and Effects

Q5. At the time, did you consider the contents of your experience: Wonderful, Frightening, Mixed

Respondents were asked how they perceived their NDE events: as wonderful, frightening, or mixed. The majority viewed the NDE as
wonderful, and only 8.6% as frightening, Table 9.

Table 9. Wonderful experience.

Significant Cross-tab Findings:

• Those who report a wonderful experience are more often female at 57.8% versus 47.8% for males. A wonderful experience is described more often in
  the over 40 age groups; 62.0% for those in their 40s, and 64.1% for those 50 and over.
• Those who report a wonderful experience are highly correlated with the similar question of whether they view the after-effects of their experience as
  positive or disturbing.
   

Q6. Did your experience include (check all that apply):

Respondents were shown a series of check boxes and asked to indicate which elements were present in their NDE (Table 10). The vast
majority of respondents report a multitude of experiences associated with their NDE. Two thirds report an out-of-body experience, and
almost as many see a light. More than half report strong emotional tone and receiving knowledge. Almost half of the respondents report
seeing unearthly beings.

Table 10. The NDE experience included.*

* Percentages add to more than 100 due to multiple responses.

There are 13 items that may be checked on this experience list. Overall, respondents selected an average of five items (4.98), with the
highest number of selections in the 30 to 39 age group (average 5.35 items each). A higher than normal number of items were also selected
for those reporting clinical death (5.30 items each).

Significant Cross-tab Findings:

• Sometimes the lack of significant differences is an important finding. There are generally few differences found in these categories by gender or race,
  or whether reports come from the US or other countries.
• The out-of-body experience is more often reported by those under 40 years of age. For the total sample 67.7% report an out-of-body episode but this
  is significantly lower at 59.6% for those aged 40 to 49, and 48.4% for those 50 and older. The highest incidence is 76.2% in the 10 to 19 year age group.
  An out-of-body experience is also more often associated with clinical death, 75.1% versus 63.0% for those with a non-life threatening event.
• Report of light is higher among females (67.2%) than for males (59.7%). Light is more often associated with a wonderful experience, 73.4%.
• Strong emotional tone is also higher for those reporting a wonderful experience, 68.1% compared to 54.2% who report a mixed experience. Those
  who report a frightening experience also report a strong emotional tone, 57.7%.
• Knowledge is reported highest in the under age 10 group at 59.2% as opposed to 45.9% for those in their 40s, and 40.6% for those 50 and over.
  The imparting of knowledge is also higher for those reporting a wonderful experience, 58.7%, compared to those with a mixed experience, 48.3%,
  and those with a frightening experience, 36.4%.
• Encountering unearthly beings is higher for females, 53.1%, compared to males, 40.3%.
• Reports of both darkness and void drop off significantly after age 50. Darkness and void are higher for those reporting a frightening experience.
  Darkness is at 56.1% for those reporting a frightening experience, compared to 28.3% for those reporting a wonderful experience. For void, the
  corresponding percentages are 39.4% and 19.3% respectively.
• Among all respondents, 28.5% report experiences out of keeping with their belief systems, but this is significantly higher for religious liberals, 35.9%.
• The oldest age group, 50 and over, more often sees a landscape or city, 37.5% compared to 26.2% for the entire population.
• Seeing deceased persons is highest in the 30 to 39 year group, 36.8%.
• A boundary is seen most by those in fair to poor health, 29.6%, compared to 21.6% for those in good to excellent health. Those who report a wonderful
  experience see a boundary 25.8% of the time, compared to 15.2% for those who report a frightening experience.
• A life review is least common for those aged 50 and over. They report a life review at 10.9%, about half the 21.6% reported by the entire sample. The
  life review is also higher for those who report clinical death.
• A vision of the future occurs mostly for those under 40 years of age. Those 40 and over report such visions at about half the rate of those under 40.

Q7. Have you experienced changes in any of the following resulting from the experience?

The vast majority of respondents had changed feelings about death after their NDE. Most respondents reported multiple changes, averaging
4.9 items out of 8 possible choices. The biggest change was in their feelings about death, followed by life purpose, their belief system, and
an increase in psychic abilities (Table 11). It’s apparent that most NDE experiences precipitate multiple changes in perceptions and behaviors.
Age and gender seem to be a big factors in such changes, as the highest rates of reported change tend to be women, and people in their 30s
and 40s.

Table 11. Resulting changes*

* Percentages add to more than 100 due to multiple responses.

Significant Cross-tab Findings.

• Changes in feelings about death are reported highest for those who also report a wonderful experience, 86.5% versus 75.4% for those with a
  frightening experience. It was also highest for those who reported clinical death, 87.8% compared to 83.0% for the whole sample.
• A sense of life purpose is relatively consistent across all subgroups. It is highest among those who also report positive NDE after-effects.
• Change in belief systems is highest in the middle age groups. Some 69.2% of all respondents report belief changes, but this is highest in the 20 to 29
  age group (74.6%), and lowest in the 50 and over group (54.8%). It is also relatively high among those who describe their experience as wonderful,
  72.7%, versus 55.4% for those with a frightening experience.
• The development of healing and psychic abilities is significantly higher among women, 71.4%, compared to men, 60.7%. Such abilities occur most
  often for those who report clinical death, 75.5%, compared to 61.9% for those with a non-life threatening experience.
• Feelings about friends and society show the biggest change for those respondents in the 30 to 39 age group, 72.3%. This change is also high for
  those who report clinical death, 69.8%.
• Changes in job or studies is lowest for those who report a non-life threatening experience, 38.3%, compared to 52.9% for those who report clinical
  death, and 48.8% who report a serious condition.
• Physical after-effects occur more among women, 37.4%, than among men, 30.0%. They are also more common among those who report poor to fair
  health at the time, 38.3%, compared to 28.8% for those in good or excellent health.

Q8. Have these changes been: Positive, Mixed, Disturbing

Less than 3% of respondents found after-effects of the experience disturbing; one third report mixed feelings but the majority report a positive perception of after-effects (Table 12).

Table 12. After-effect changes positive or negative.

Significant Cross-tab Findings:

• This question is highly correlated with the question of whether or not the experience was wonderful, mixed, or frightening.
• The highest positive ratings are given by those 50 years of age or older, 68.8%.

Q9. Has your life changed specifically as a result of your experience?

Only a small number of people, 17%, report no life change as a result of their experience (Table 13).

Table 13. Life changed as a result.

Significant Cross-tab Findings:

• Some 83.0% of respondents report life changes as a result of their NDE. This is highest for those who report clinical death triggered their
  experience (87.8%) and for those in the 30 to 39 age group (91.2%).

Q10. Over time, did your after-effect: Increase, Decrease, Stay the Same
 

Almost half of respondents (47.6%) report the effects of the NDE increased over time (Table 14). Only 14% report the changed decreased
over time.

Table 14. Changes over time (Base = those who report any changes)

Significant Cross-tab Findings:

• Just under half (47.6%) of respondents report their changes increased over time. This is highest among women, 52.4%, and 56.8% for those who had
  an NDE before the age of 10.
• After-effects increased more for those who report clinical death, 55.2%, compared to 41.9% for those reporting a non-life threatening situation.

C.  Demographics

Q13a. Your religious background:

Religious background was an open-ended question. Responses were coded into broad categories, Table 15. These categories were
reduced to just a few for cross-tab purposes. See the Appendix. 

Table 15. Religious background.

Q13b. Your religious background: Conservative, Moderate, Liberal

Most respondents consider themselves religious liberals. Religious liberals more often describe their NDE experience as wonderful. It is
unknown whether or not the experience made them more liberal, or if being liberal affected the NDE experience. 

Table 16. Religious type.

Q15. Your race:

Most respondents report their race as White (Table 17). Minorities are under-represented in these reports. The total sample includes too
few cases in minority categories to break out results by ethnic group. Instead, cross-tabulations are by White and Non-White only.

Table 17. Race.

Q16. Your country of birth:

Q17. Country of family origin

Both of these questions contained too many inconsistencies and contradictions to provide reliable results and therefore are not included
in this report.

Appendix A:  Gender, Age, White/Not-White Cross-tabs

Appendix B:  U.S. vs. Other, Health Status, Frightening NDE, Religious Type Cross-tabs

Appendix C:  Medical Condition, Positive After-effects Cross-tabs

Note: Appendices are several hundred pages of cross-tabulation tables and are too numerous to post all of them here.
Only Appendix A is shown. Please contact us if you would like a copy of the other appendices.