Sex Differences in Religious Beliefs Before and After an Entity Encounter During an Ayahuasca Experience.

Abstract

An interesting aspect of entity encounters during psychedelic experiences is their ability to transform one's religious beliefs. However, little is known about sex differences in these transformations. This study investigates sex differences in changes in religious beliefs before and after an entity encounter among ayahuasca users. Data were collected via an anonymous Internet-based survey (N = 415; M_age = 38.53, SD = 11.39; male = 60.5%). Descriptive analyses, binary logistic regression, and two-proportion z-tests were conducted. Before the entity encounter, males were significantly more likely to identify as atheists (OR = 2.889, p = .001) and less likely to identify as having religious beliefs (OR = 0.453, p < .001) compared to females. After the entity encounter, no significant sex differences in religious beliefs were found (ps >0.05). Comparing changes before and after the experience, both sex groups showed decreases in atheism and agnosticism and increases in religious beliefs, with males exhibiting larger changes. Specifically, the proportion of males identifying as religious significantly increased from before to after the entity encounter (z = 3.49, p < .001), whereas the increase for females was not statistically significant. Findings suggest sex is associated with perceived changes in religious beliefs among ayahuasca users reporting an entity encounter, highlighting the importance of considering sex in psychedelic research and its impact on spirituality and related outcomes.