Abstract
In this article, I explore the nature of the “fear-death experience” (FDE) by way of an epidemiological analysis, and discuss the FDE as one of several causal theories of the near-death experience (NDE). I then pursue two hypotheses: (1) if the FDE model is correct, one would expect to find that a number of NDEs are preceded by traumatic experiences; and (2) if the FDE model is correct, one would expect to find that more NDEs are experienced by males than females. Chi-squared analyses on data from more than 500 NDE cases revealed that the first hypothesis cannot be rejected, while the second hypothesis can be rejected. I discuss the theoretical implications of these findings.
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Audain, L. Gender and Trauma in the Near-Death Experience: An Epidemiological and Theoretical Analysis. Journal of Near-Death Studies 18, 35–49 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022960229519
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022960229519