Abstract
Reality shifting (RS) is a trendy mental activity that emerged abruptly following the flare-up of the COVID-19 pandemic
in 2020 and seems to be practiced mainly by members of the post-millennial generation. RS, described as the experience of
being able to transcend one’s physical confines and visit alternate, mostly fictional, universes, is discussed by many on Internet
platforms. One RS forum boasts over 40,000 members and RS clips on some social media platforms have been viewed
over 1.7 billion times. The experience of shifting is reportedly facilitated by specific induction methods involving relaxation,
concentration of attention, and autosuggestion. Some practitioners report a strong sense of presence in their desired realities,
reified by some who believe in the concrete reality of the alternate world they shift to. One of the most popular alternate
universes involves environments adopted from the Harry Potter book and film series. We describe the phenomenology of
RS as reported online and then compare it to related phenomena such as hypnosis, tulpamancy, dissociation, immersive and
maladaptive daydreaming, and lucid dreaming. We propose a theoretical model of interactive factors giving rise to RS, and
conclude that it is an important, uninvestigated emerging phenomenon and propose future research directions.
in 2020 and seems to be practiced mainly by members of the post-millennial generation. RS, described as the experience of
being able to transcend one’s physical confines and visit alternate, mostly fictional, universes, is discussed by many on Internet
platforms. One RS forum boasts over 40,000 members and RS clips on some social media platforms have been viewed
over 1.7 billion times. The experience of shifting is reportedly facilitated by specific induction methods involving relaxation,
concentration of attention, and autosuggestion. Some practitioners report a strong sense of presence in their desired realities,
reified by some who believe in the concrete reality of the alternate world they shift to. One of the most popular alternate
universes involves environments adopted from the Harry Potter book and film series. We describe the phenomenology of
RS as reported online and then compare it to related phenomena such as hypnosis, tulpamancy, dissociation, immersive and
maladaptive daydreaming, and lucid dreaming. We propose a theoretical model of interactive factors giving rise to RS, and
conclude that it is an important, uninvestigated emerging phenomenon and propose future research directions.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 11415–11427 |
Journal | Current Psychology |
Issue number | 42 |
Early online date | 2021 Oct 30 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2023 |
Subject classification (UKÄ)
- Psychology
Free keywords
- reality shifting
- hypnosis
- dissociation
- tulpamancy
- maladaptive daydreaming