Exploring the relationship between microdosing, personality and emotional insight: a prospective study
Open accessAbstract
Abstract Backround and aims Having entered the recent public and research zeitgeist, microdosing involves consuming sub-perceptual doses of psychedelic drugs, allegedly to enhance performance, creativity, and wellbeing. The results of research to date have been mixed. Whereas most studies have reported positive impacts of microdosing, some microdosers have also reported adverse effects. In addition, research to date has revealed inconsistent patterns of change in personality traits. This prospective study explored the relationship between microdosing, personality change, and emotional awareness. Methods Measures of personality and alexithymia were collected at two time points. 76 microdosers participated at baseline. Invitations to a follow-up survey were sent out after 31 days, and 24 participants were retained. Results Conscientiousness increased, while neuroticism decreased across these time points ( n = 24). At baseline ( N = 76), neuroticism was associated with alexithymia. In addition, neuroticism correlated negatively with duration of prior microdosing experience, and extraversion correlated positively with both duration of prior microdosing experience and lifetime number of microdoses. Conclusion These results suggest that microdosing might have an impact on otherwise stable personality traits.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Neuroticism decreased after MD in healthy adults and a general population sample.
“Neuroticism decreased after MD in healthy adults (29) and a general population sample (12)”
From Trait mindfulness and personality characteristics in a microdosing ADHD sample: a naturalistic prospective survey study (2023) · cites this paper as [29]
The Results report a significant decrease in neuroticism between T1 and T2 among 24 participants who microdosed. But the Participants section describes a self-selected sample recruited through psychedelic organizations and forums, not a general-population sample; the Limitations section cautions that the findings may not generalize to the general population. The separate healthy-adults citation (29) is not assessed here. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredOther studies investigating healthy individuals did not find an agreeableness increase after MD.
“though other studies investigating healthy individuals did not find this effect (13, 29).”
From Trait mindfulness and personality characteristics in a microdosing ADHD sample: a naturalistic prospective survey study (2023) · cites this paper as [29]
Conscientiousness was increased in healthy adults after MD.
“Namely, conscientiousness was increased in healthy adults after MD (29)”
From Trait mindfulness and personality characteristics in a microdosing ADHD sample: a naturalistic prospective survey study (2023) · cites this paper as [29]
The decrease in neuroticism reported here is consistent with two previous prospective MD studies.
“The decrease in neuroticism reported here is consistent with two previous prospective MD studies (12, 29).”
From Trait mindfulness and personality characteristics in a microdosing ADHD sample: a naturalistic prospective survey study (2023) · cites this paper as [29]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Bagby, R. M., Parker, J. D. A., & Taylor, G. J. (1994) · Journal of Psychosomatic Research · doi:10.1016/0022-3999(94)90005-1 · Cited by 5,293 · see citing works
Griffiths, R. R., Johnson, M. W., Carducci, M. A., Umbricht, A., Richards, W. A., Richards, B. D., Cosimano, M. P., & Klinedinst, M. A. (2016) · Journal of Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1177/0269881116675513 · Cited by 2,201 · cited 2× · see citing works
“High doses of psilocybin decreased depressive and anxious symptoms in patients with lifethreatening cancer diagnoses (Griffiths et al., 2016) and promoted abstinence in patients with alcohol (Bogenschutz et al., 2015) and tobacco addiction (Garcia-Romeu, Johnson, & Griffiths, 2014).”
BackgroundNichols, D. E. (2016) · Pharmacological Reviews · doi:10.1124/pr.115.011478 · Cited by 1,762 · see citing works
The Five-Factor Model of Personality and Its Relevance to Personality Disorders
Costa, P., & McCrae, R. (1992) · Journal of Personality Disorders · doi:10.1521/pedi.1992.6.4.343 · Cited by 1,225 · see citing works
Psilocybin-assisted treatment for alcohol dependence: A proof-of-concept study
Bogenschutz, M. P., Forcehimes, A. A., Pommy, J. A., Wilcox, C. E., Barbosa, P., & Strassman, R. J. (2015) · Journal of Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1177/0269881114565144 · Cited by 1,151 · cited 1× · see citing works
“High doses of psilocybin decreased depressive and anxious symptoms in patients with lifethreatening cancer diagnoses (Griffiths et al., 2016) and promoted abstinence in patients with alcohol (Bogenschutz et al., 2015) and tobacco addiction (Garcia-Romeu, Johnson, & Griffiths, 2014).”
BackgroundMacLean, K. A., Johnson, M. W., & Griffiths, R. R. (2011) · Journal of Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1177/0269881111420188 · Cited by 895 · see citing works
The paradoxical psychological effects of lysergic acid diethylamide LSD
Carhart-Harris, R. L., Kaelen, M., Bolstridge, M., Williams, T. M., Williams, L. T., Underwood, R., Feilding, A., & Nutt, D. J. (2016) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291715002901 · Cited by 293 · see citing works
Effects of psilocybin therapy on personality structure
Erritzoe, D., Roseman, L., Nour, M. M., MacLean, K., Kaelen, M., Nutt, D. J., & Carhart‐Harris, R. L. (2018) · Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica · doi:10.1111/acps.12904 · Cited by 267 · see citing works
A systematic study of microdosing psychedelics
Polito, V., & Stevenson, R. J. (2019) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0211023 · Cited by 235 · cited 4× · see citing works
“Contrary to previous findings by Polito and Stevenson (2019), we observed a significant decrease in neuroticism.”
BackgroundResultInfluentialKuypers, K., Ng, L., Erritzoe, D., Knudsen, G., Nichols, C. D., Nichols, D. E., Pani, L., Soula, A., & Nutt, D. (2019) · Journal of Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1177/0269881119857204 · Cited by 188 · see citing works
Exploring the effect of microdosing psychedelics on creativity in an open-label natural setting
Prochazkova, L., Lippelt, D. P., Colzato, L. S., Kuchar, M., Sjoerds, Z., & Hommel, B. (2018) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-018-5049-7 · Cited by 177 · see citing works
Bershad, A. K., Schepers, S. T., Bremmer, M. P., Lee, R., & de Wit, H. (2019) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2019.05.019 · Cited by 175 · see citing works
Microdosing psychedelics: personality, mental health, and creativity differences in microdosers
Anderson, T., Petranker, R., Rosenbaum, D., Weissman, C. R., Dinh-Williams, L.-A., Hui, K., Hapke, E., & Farb, N. A. S. (2019) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-018-5106-2 · Cited by 174 · see citing works
Yanakieva, S., Polychroni, N., Family, N., Williams, L. T. J., Luke, D. P., & Terhune, D. B. (2018) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-018-5119-x · Cited by 167 · see citing works
Powerful substances in tiny amounts: An interview study of psychedelic microdosing
Johnstad, P. G. (2018) · Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs · doi:10.1177/1455072517753339 · Cited by 155 · cited 4× · see citing works
“Other observational studies have also found that microdosers often report past experience with, or recent use of, recreational drugs (Anderson et al., 2019; Johnstad, 2018; Lea, Amada, Jungaberle, Schecke, Scherbaum & Klein, 2020; Rosenbaum et al., 2020; Webb et al., 2019), presenting a common limitation in studies of…”
BackgroundInfluentialGucht, V. D., Fischler, B., & Heiser, W. J. (2003) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2003.06.012 · Cited by 143 · see citing works
Family, N., Maillet, É. L., Williams, L. T. J., Krediet, E., Carhart-Harris, R. L., Williams, T. A., Nichols, C. D., Goble, D. J., & Raz, S. (2019) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-019-05417-7 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
The Psychedelic Explorer's Guide: Safe, Therapeutic, and Sacred Journeys
Fadiman, J. (2011) · Cited by 141 · see citing works
Hutten, N. R. P. W., Mason, N. L., Dolder, P. C., Theunissen, E. L., Holze, F., Liechti, M. E., Feilding, A., Ramaekers, J. G., & Kuypers, K. P. C. (2020) · European Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1016/j.euroneuro.2020.10.002 · Cited by 123 · see citing works
Microdosing psychedelics: Motivations, subjective effects and harm reduction
Lea, T., Amada, N. M., Jungaberle, H., Schecke, H., & Klein, M. (2019) · International Journal of Drug Policy · doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2019.11.008 · Cited by 121 · see citing works
Psychedelic microdosing: a subreddit analysis
Lea, T., Amada, N., & Jungaberle, H. (2020) · Journal of Psychoactive Drugs · doi:10.1080/02791072.2019.1683260 · Cited by 115 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Most microdosers reportedly adjust their initial dose through trial and error (Lea et al., 2019).”
BackgroundA low dose of lysergic acid diethylamide decreases pain perception in healthy volunteers
Ramaekers, J. G., Hutten, N. R. P. W., Mason, N. L., Dolder, P. C., Theunissen, E. L., Holze, F., Liechti, M. E., Feilding, A., & Kuypers, K. P. C. (2020) · Journal of Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1177/0269881120940937 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
The therapeutic potential of microdosing psychedelics in depression
Kuypers, K. P. C. (2020) · Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1177/2045125320950567 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Lea, T., Amada, N. M., Jungaberle, H., Schecke, H., Scherbaum, N., & Klein, M. (2020) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-020-05477-0 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Microdosing psychedelics: Demographics, practices, and psychiatric comorbidities
Rosenbaum, D., Weissman, C., Anderson, T., Petranker, R., Dinh-Williams, L.-A., Hui, K., & Hapke, E. (2020) · Journal of Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1177/0269881120908004 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Narrative identity, rationality, and microdosing classic psychedelics
Webb, M. E., Copes, H., & Hendricks, P. S. (2019) · International Journal of Drug Policy · doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2019.04.013 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Holze, F., Liechti, M. E., Hutten, N. R. P. W., Mason, N. L., Dolder, P. C., Theunissen, E. L., Duthaler, U., Feilding, A., Ramaekers, J. G., & Kuypers, K. P. C. (2020) · Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics · doi:10.1002/cpt.2057 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Socha, A., Cooper, C. A., & McCord, D. (2010) · Psychological Assessment · doi:10.1037/a0017371 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Alexithymia in parents of daughters with eating disorders
Espina, A. (2003) · Journal of Psychosomatic Research · doi:10.1016/s0022-3999(03)00016-3 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Andersson, M., & Kjellgren, A. (2019) · Harm Reduction Journal · doi:10.1186/s12954-019-0333-3 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Hupli, A., Berning, M., Zhuparris, A., & Fadiman, J. (2019) · Performance Enhancement & Health · doi:10.1016/j.peh.2019.01.001 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Messina, A., Fogliani, A. M., & Paradiso, S. (2010) · Psychological Reports · doi:10.2466/02.07.13.15.pr0.107.4.185-192 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Bright, S., Gringart, E., Blatchford, E., & Bettinson, S. (2021) · Australian Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1080/00049530.2021.1882266 · Cited by 16 · cited 2× · see citing works
“However, Bright et al. (2021) found that microdosers had higher levels of depression and anxiety compared to a yoga control group.”
BackgroundSelf-citationGarcia-Romeu, A. P., Johnson, M. W., & Griffiths, R. R. (2014) · Drug and Alcohol Dependence · doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.02.200 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Australia should be initiating a psychedelic research program: What are the barriers?
Strauss, N. H. M., Bright, S. J., & Williams, M. L. (2016) · Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/0004867416670520 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Bright, S., & Williams, M. L. (2018) · Australian psychologist · doi:10.1111/ap.12345 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Microdosing as a response to the meaning crisisPreprint
Petranker, R., Kim, J. J., & Anderson, T. (2020) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/2jnkf · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Bright, S. J., Gringart, E., Blatchford, E., et al. (2020) · doi:10.31219/osf.io/zkpxe · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Valentish, J. (2018). Why professionals are taking psychedelic drugs in the workplace.Australian Financial Review. https://www.afr. com/life-and-luxury/arts-and-culture/why-professionals-are- taking-psychedelic-drugs-20181205-h18r0w.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Polito, V., & Liknaitzky, P. (2022) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104706 · Cited by 113 · see citing works
Set and setting in microdosing: an oft-overlooked principle
Hartogsohn, I., & Petranker, R. (2022) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-022-06249-8 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Psychedelic Microdosing, Mindfulness, and Anxiety: A Cross-Sectional Mediation Study
Hartong, V., & van Emmerik, A. (2023) · Journal of Psychoactive Drugs · doi:10.1080/02791072.2022.2080616 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“…Griffiths et al. 2016; Grob et al. 2011; Ross et al. 2016) and may include changes in relatively stable traits such as openness and neuroticism (Dressler, Bright, and Polito 2021; MacLean, Johnson, and Griffiths 2011) and mindfulness (Madsen et al. 2020; Soler et al. 2016; Uthaug et al. 2019),…”
BackgroundGodfrey, K. E. M., Weiss, B., Zhang, X., Spriggs, M. J., Peill, J. M., Lyons, T., Carhart-Harris, R. L., & Erritzøe, D. (2024) · Neuroscience Applied · doi:10.1016/j.nsa.2024.104092 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Kruger, D. J., Argyri, E. K., Mogilski, J. K., Herberholz, M., Barron, J., Aday, J. S., & Boehnke, K. F. (2025) · The Journal of Sex Research · doi:10.1080/00224499.2025.2479197 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Haijen, E. C. H. M., Hurks, P. P. M., & Kuypers, K. P. C. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1233585 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Psychedelic Drug Microdosing Practices: A Qualitative Online Exploration
Miller, E., Bojovic, V., Maddren, O., Rao, P., Adesina, D., Petrenko, A., & Ponton, R. (2024) · Journal of Psychoactive Drugs · doi:10.1080/02791072.2024.2304554 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Microdosing psychedelics – Does it have an impact on emodiversity?
Pop, I. A., & Dinkelacker, J. (2023) · Journal of Psychedelic Studies · doi:10.1556/2054.2022.00208 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Polito, V., & Liknaitzky, P. (2021) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/edhqz · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Golia, K. (2022) · Consciousness Spirituality & Transpersonal Psychology · doi:10.53074/cstp.2022.37 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Tendencias y experiencias del consumo de microdosis de hongos psilocibios en Colombia
Suárez, C., Quintero, S., & Gil, J. M. C. (2023) · Cultura y Droga · doi:10.17151/culdr.2023.28.35.7
Classic psychedelics and personality: An updated systematic review
Vicentini, A. B., de Paula, C. C., Reis, J. A. S., Bouso, J. C., Hallak, J. E. C., & SANTOS, R. G. D. (2026) · Journal of Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1177/02698811261449386
Meshkat, S., Leung, M., Meshkat, S., Lin, Q., Wijendran, D., Reichelt, A. C., Zhang, Y., Burback, L., Winkler, O., Greenshaw, A. J., et al. (2026) · CNS Drugs · doi:10.1007/s40263-026-01325-5
Psychedelic-Induced Changes in Personality Traits: A Systematic Review
Bartkiewicz, P. A., Baran, W. P., & Lachowska, E. M. (2026) · Roczniki Psychologiczne · doi:10.18290/rpsych2025.0017
- Authors
- Dressler, H. M., Bright, S. J., & Polito, V.
- Affiliations
- University of Göttingen (DE)
- Edith Cowan University (AU)
- Macquarie University (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Polito, Vince
- Venue
- Journal of Psychedelic Studies
- Publisher
- Akademiai Kiado Zrt.
- Published
- 2021-05-11
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 9-16
- ISSN
- 2559-9283 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3149676623
- Cited by
- 14
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 1.71
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Psychedelic Studies (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Australasian Journal of Paramedicine (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- GoeScholar The Publication Server of the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychedelics and Drug Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Paranormal Experiences and Beliefs
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Keywords
- microdosing, personality change, emotional awareness, alexithymia, neuroticism, conscientiousness, extraversion, psychedelics
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
