Spirit possession and neuroticism in West Indian Pentecostal community

Abstract

The experiment is focused on the relationship between spirit possession and neuroticism as assessed by psychometric techniques. Twenty subjects who were regular members of a West Indian Pentecostal congregation were interviewed and tested with the EPI and the hysteria scale of the MMPI. Analysis of data indicated that the 10 subjects who were defined as spirit possessed scored significantly high in both neuroticism (P less than 0.05) and hysteria (P less than 0.005) than did the control group. In light of these data and others it was suggested that possession constitutes a culture-bound neurotic disorder.