Abstract Some people report memories of near-death experiences (NDEs) after facing situations of impending death and these memories appear to have significant consequences on their lives (here referred to as “real NDE experiencers”; real NDErs). We assessed to what extent NDE memories are considered self-defining: memories that help people to define clearly how they see themselves. We screened 71 participants using the Greyson NDE scale (48 real NDErs and 23 NDErs-like who had lived a similar experience in absence of a threat to their life). Participants described their two main self-defining memories (SDMs). For each SDM, they completed the Centrality of Event Scale (CES) to assess how central the event is to their identity. The two subgroups did not differ regarding the proportion of NDErs who recalled their NDE (30 real NDErs out of 48 and 11 NDErs-like out of 23). Real NDErs and NDErs-like who recalled their NDE (n = 41) reported richer experiences as assessed by the Greyson NDE scale. Furthermore, these participants rated their NDE memory as more central to their identity as compared to other SDMs, and the richness of the NDE memory was positively associated to its centrality (CES scores). Overall, these findings suggest that the self-defining aspect of the experience might be related to its phenomenological content rather than its circumstances of occurrence. The self-defining status of NDE memories confirms that they constitute an important part of NDErs’ personal identity and highlights the importance for clinicians to facilitate their integration within the self.

中文翻译：

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濒临死亡的回忆：它们是自定义的吗？

摘要有些人在面对即将死亡的情况时报告了濒死体验（NDE）的记忆，这些记忆似乎对他们的生活产生了重大影响（此处称为“真实NDE体验者”；真实NDErs）。我们评估了NDE记忆被认为是自我定义的程度：这些记忆可以帮助人们清楚地定义他们如何看待自己。我们使用Greyson NDE量表筛选了71位参与者（48位真正的NDErs和23位类似的NDErs，他们在没有生命威胁的情况下也经历了类似的经历）。参与者描述了他们的两个主要的自定义记忆（SDM）。对于每个SDM，他们都完成了事件规模量表（CES）的中心性评估，以评估事件对他们的身份的中心性。这两个亚组在召回其NDE的NDE的比例上没有差异（48个中的真实NDE和23个中的11个NDE）。真正的NDErs和类似NDErs的人回忆起他们的NDE（n = 41），据Greyson NDE量表评估，他们拥有更丰富的经验。此外，与其他SDM相比，这些参与者对NDE记忆的评价对他们的身份更为重要，并且NDE记忆的丰富程度与其中心性（CES分数）正相关。总体而言，这些发现表明，体验的自我定义方面可能与其现象学内容有关，而不是与其发生的环境有关。