Psychedelic medicine users have long reported experiencing profound shifts in their values, perception, and sense of self; many claiming to have experienced shifts in their personality.
A recent small study involving 90 participants published in the Journal of Psychedelic Studies explored the relationship between microdosing, personality change, and emotional awareness and found that the consumption of sub-perceptual doses of psychedelic drugs might have an impact on otherwise stable personality traits.
Among the study’s findings:
A short course of microdosing led to increased conscientiousness.
Neuroticism decreased in a sample of more experienced microdosers. Prior microdosing was found to have a negative correlation with neuroticism and a positive correlation with extraversion.
A negative association between emotional insight and neuroticism.
While this study was small-scale and not as precise as a controlled experiment with predetermined dosing amounts, fixed schedules, and a placebo-control condition, these findings do open the door to further research to build on the exploratory findings of this study in an effort to expand our understanding of the impact of microdosing on shifts in personality traits.
