Recently the academic paper “Consensual BDSM Facilitates Role-Specific Altered States of Consciousness: A Preliminary Study” was made available for free download via Dropbox. The study was undertaken by James K. Ambler, Ellen M. Lee, Kathryn R. Klement, Tonio Loewald, Evelyn M. Comber, Sarah A. Hanson, Bert Cutler, Nadine Cutler and Brad J. Sagarin and first appeared in
Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, Sep 22 , 2016. The abstract posted states:
“Researchers studying consensual bondage/discipline, dominance/submission, and sadism/masochism (BDSM) have theorized that individuals pursue BDSM activities, in part, due to the pleasant altered states of consciousness these activities produce. However, to date, no research has tested whether BDSM activities actually facilitate altered states. To this end, we randomly assigned 14 experienced BDSM practitioners to the bottom role (the person who is bound, receiving stimulation, or following orders) or the top role (the person providing stimulation, orders, or structure) for a BDSM scene. Results suggest that topping was associated with an altered state aligned with Csikszentmihalyi’s (1991) flow (measured with the Flow State Scale), and bottoming was associated with an altered state aligned with Dietrich’s (2003) transient hypofrontality (measured with a Stroop test) as well as some facets of flow. Additional results suggest that BDSM activities were associated with reductions in psychological stress and negative affect, and increases in sexual arousal. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)”
thanks to Soror Hypatia for the tip!
