A sense that someone is nearby--even when nobody is visible or audible--is known to psychologists as a felt presence. A study published in the journal Psychosis suggests that spiritual experiences and unusual perceptions may influence how often people report it and how they interpret the sensation.
Researchers Tatiana Baxter and Sohee Park of Vanderbilt University analyzed survey responses from 337 adults collected online between 2020 and 2022. Around 60% of participants said they had experienced a felt presence at least once. Because volunteers were recruited through social media and mailing lists, that figure should not be treated as a population-wide estimate.
Participants who reported both a stronger connection to God, spirits or a higher power and more unusual perceptions tended to describe these experiences as more frequent and vivid. They also reported greater distress. Some people with unusual perceptions, however, said the encounters could feel pleasant as well as frightening. The findings show an association, not proof that spirituality or those perceptions cause the experience.
How the brain and expectations may shape the experience
One possible explanation involves the brain's ongoing work to locate the body and distinguish its own signals from those of other people. If sensory information does not align, the brain may interpret signals from the body as evidence of another presence. In a 2014 experiment at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, researchers used robotic movements and delayed touch to prompt some volunteers to sense someone nearby.
Culture and personal expectations may also shape how people understand the sensation. An unseen presence might be interpreted as a comforting connection or as something threatening, depending on a person's beliefs and circumstances. Researchers emphasize that experiencing a felt presence alone does not indicate mental illness.
By studying how perception, bodily awareness and belief interact, future research may help explain why the same sensation can feel reassuring to one person and unsettling to another.
