Exceptional experiences amongst twins

• Two studies are reported here concerning the relationship between exceptional experiences in pairs of twins and their degree of attachment to each other. The initial study collated replies to a questionnaire given to a large number of twins who were attending a Twin-Day celebration. The further study used a highly selected series of replies from a postal survey of the twins in the Twin Registry. Both studies used the Exceptional Experiences Questionnaire, which recorded the frequency of remarkable coincidences, shared dreams and apparent telepathy, as well as the degree and duration of the attachments the twins experienced to each other. In the survey study, 60% of the responding twins reported having experienced events that they judged to be of a telepathic nature. Frequent telepathic experiences were reported by 11% and remarkable coincidences by 56% of the respondents. Identical twins reported having these experiences significantly more often and having a significantly stronger attachment to each other than was the case for non- identical twins. A significant relationship was also found to occur between reporting a strong attachment and reporting many and more remarkable exceptional experiences. A large majority of the twins reported these experiences as having occurred in a waking state. Almost half of the twins reported the experience of telepathy to raise concern for the welfare of the other twin, often relating to a pain or illness, or injury. However, in the postal survey group about one third of the remarkable events were positive events. The use of a private language and the occurrence of shared dreams seem to be further hallmarks of these experiences.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

identical twins

exceptional experiences

attachment

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)