“Strange-Face Illusions during Eye-To-Eye Gazing in Dyads: Specific Effects on Derealization, Depersonalization and Dissociative Identity”, 2019-04-02 (; similar):
Experimentally induced strange-face illusions can be perceived when 2 individuals look at each other in the eyes under low illumination for about 10 minutes. This task of subject-other eye-to-eye gazing produces the following perceptions by the subject: (1) mild to huge deformations and color/shape changes of face and facial features; (2) lifeless, unmoving faces and immaterial presences akin to out-of-body experiences; (3) pseudo-hallucinations, enlightened ‘idealized’ faces and personalities—rather than the other’s actual face. Dissociative phenomena seem to be involved, whereas the effects of non-pathological dissociation on strange-face illusions have not yet been directly investigated.
In the present study, dissociative perceptions and strange-face illusions were measured through self-report questionnaires on a large sample (n = 90) of healthy young individuals.
Results: of correlation and factor analyses suggest that strange-face illusions can involve, respectively: (1) strange-face illusions correlated to derealization; (2) strange-face illusions correlated to depersonalization; and (3) strange-face illusions of identity, which are supposedly correlated to identity dissociation. The findings support the separation between detachment and compartmentalization in dissociative processes. Effects of gender show that strange-face illusions are more frequent in men with respect to women if dyads are composed of individuals of different-gender. Furthermore, drawings of strange-faces, which were perceived by portrait artists in place the others’ faces, allowed a direct illustration of examples of dissociative identities.
Results: are discussed in relation to the 3-level model of self-referential processing.
[Keywords: bodily self, consciousness, eye contact, identity, intersubjectivity, mirror-gazing, OBE, projection, tonic immobility, 2-person synchronization]