All analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics (Version 26).
VVIQ Results
Table 2 reports all VVIQ scores according to the demographics of gender, age, education, occupation and cultural groups. There were 636 participants who completed all 16 questions of the VVIQ. The average VVIQ score over the entire sample was 58.90 (13.90). VVIQ scores ranged from 16–80.
More females (n = 424, 75.0%) completed the VVIQ than males2 (n = 133, 23.50%). The average VVIQ score for females (M = 58.54, SD = 14.05) did not significantly differ from that for males (M = 60.67, SD = 13.38) (t(555) = 1.54, p = .65).
There was a significant main effect over the 5 age groups (F(4, 559) = 3.09, p = .02, η2 = .02). However, post hoc Bonferroni correction ultimately revealed no significant differences between the age groups.
There were no significant differences found for VVIQ scores for education (F(4, 560) = 1.18, p = .32) or for occupation (F(10, 548) = .98, p = .46).
For each cultural group, the VVIQ means (SDs) were as follows from lowest to highest: MENA (M = 55.12, SD = 14.82), South Asia (M = 57.57, SD = 13.98), AG (M = 58.70, SD = 15.34), SEA (M = 61.20, SD = 13.18), Other (mixed) (M = 61.58, SD = 12.02) and WEIRD (M = 62.36, SD = 12.62). A main effect of cultural groups was found (F(5, 551) = 3.72, p = .003, η2 = .033). Bonferroni post hoc correction revealed significant differences between the MENA and SEA (p < 0.05) and MENA and WEIRD (p < 0.01) groups. MENA participants reported significantly lower visual imagery than SEA and WEIRD participants.
Table 2
Overall VVIQ scores for gender, age, work-field, education and cultural groups
Variable
|
Description
|
Overall N (% of sample)
|
VVIQ Mean (SD)
|
Gender
|
Male
|
133 (23.54)
|
60.67 (13.38)
|
Female
|
424 (75.04)
|
58.54 (14.05)
|
Prefer not to say
|
8 (1.42)
|
60.13 (12.43)
|
Age group
|
18–25
|
138 (24.47)
|
57.50 (14.71)
|
26–30
|
101 (17.91)
|
57.24 (15.46)
|
31–40
|
220 (39.01)
|
59.18 (13.20)
|
41–50
|
74 (13.12)
|
61.85 (11.36)
|
51&above
|
31 (5.50)
|
65.00 (12.91)
|
Education level
|
High School
|
70 (12.39)
|
58.11 (13.74)
|
Bachelor’s Degree
|
309 (54.69)
|
59.27 (13.95)
|
Master’s Degree
|
159 (28.14)
|
58.21 (14.17)
|
PhD or Higher
|
17 (3.01)
|
63.82 (11.40)
|
Trade School
|
10 (1.77)
|
64.80 (10.41)
|
Occupation
|
Management
|
43 (7.69)
|
55.14 (12.53)
|
Business and financial
|
63 (11.27)
|
59.71 (13.24)
|
Computer and mathematical/Life, physical, social science
|
39 (6.98)
|
58.77 (13.92)
|
Education, training, and library
|
96 (17.17)
|
57.96 (14.64)
|
Arts, design, entertainment, sports and media
|
66 (11.81)
|
61.91 (10.98)
|
Healthcare, practitioners and technical
|
127 (22.72)
|
59.22 (14.86)
|
Architecture and engineering
|
36 (6.44)
|
59.86 (16.25)
|
Office and admin support
|
44 (7.87)
|
58.48 (14.98)
|
Sales and related occupations
|
28 (5.01)
|
58.21 (12.73)
|
Construction and extraction
|
12 (2.15)
|
58.17 (12.44)
|
Military specific
|
5 (0.89)
|
69.0 (10.63)
|
Cultural Groups
|
Arabian Gulf
|
43 (7.72)
|
58.70 (15.34)
|
MENA
|
86 (15.44)
|
55.12* (14.82)
|
South Asia
|
180 (32.32)
|
57.57 (13.98)
|
South East Asia
|
121 (21.72)
|
61.20* (13.18)
|
WEIRD
|
89 (15.98)
|
62.36** (12.62)
|
Other
|
38 (6.82)
|
61.58 (12.02)
|
* p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01 indicate significant different of MENA compared to SEA and WEIRD
|
Aphantasia
A total of 32 individuals reported scores in the aphantasia range (VVIQ cutoff score 16–32), yielding an aphantasia population prevalence of 5.0%. Of these 32 individuals, nine (1.4% of the entire sample) reported a VVIQ score of 16, indicating a complete lack of visual imagery. Overall, males (n = 5) with aphantasia accounted for approximately 4% of total male participants in the study, while females
(n = 23) with aphantasia accounted for approximately 5% of female participants in the study. There were no differences in the mean VVIQ for females (n = 23, M = 22.83, SD = 5.71) compared to male participants (n = 5, M = 24.80, SD = 6.53); (t(26) = .68, p = .97). A chi-square test further confirmed that the frequency of males and females in the aphantasia group was not significantly different (\({}^{2}\) (1, N = 557) = .59, p = .44).
Hyperphantasia
A total of 77 participants reported having very high visual imagery in the hyperphantasia range defined as a VVIQ cutoff score of 75–80, giving a 12.1% prevalence of hyperphantasia in this sample. Of these 77 individuals, 18 (2.8%) reported complete hyperphantasia (VVIQ = 80). The mean VVIQ scores for female (n = 24, M = 77.30, SD = 1.91) participants did not differ from those for male participants (n = 47, M = 77.54, SD = 1.93); (t(69) = .51, p = .98). Overall, males with hyperphantasia accounted for 18% of total male participants, and females with hyperphantasia accounted for 11% of total female participants. A chi-square test revealed that more males reported hyperphantasia than expected in the study sample, ( (1, N = 557) = 4.41, p = .04).
Psi-Q Results
Out of the 636 participants, 519 completed all 7 subscales of the Psi-Q. The average Psi-Q score over the entire sample was 7.98 (1.73). Psi-Q means across the subscales ranged from (highest) 8.43 (vision subscale) – (lowest) 7.41 (smell subscale) (Table 3).
Table 3
Psi-Q means for each subscale
Psi-Q subscale
|
N
|
Mean (SD)
|
Vision
(e.g. Imagine the appearance of: a friend you know well)
|
522
|
8.43 (1.82)
|
Sound
(e.g. Imagine the sound of: an ambulance siren)
|
522
|
8.35 (1.95)
|
Smell
(e.g. Imagine the smell of: a stuffy room)
|
520
|
7.41 (2.31)
|
Touch
(e.g. Imagine touching: warm sand)
|
521
|
8.26 (1.94)
|
Taste
(e.g. Imagine the taste of: mustard)
|
521
|
7.75 (2.14)
|
Body
(e.g. Imagine the bodily sensation of: walking briskly in the cold)
|
520
|
7.92 (1.96)
|
Emotion
(e.g. Imagine feeling: excited)
|
520
|
7.82 (2.11)
|
Overall
|
522
|
7.98 (1.73)
|
More females than males completed all scales; however, no gender differences were found:
-
Overall Psi-Q scale: Male: n = 114, M = 8.05, SD = 1.70; Female: n = 397, M = 7.95, SD = 1.76), (t(509) = .50, p = .57)
-
Psi-Q vision (male: n = 114, M = 8.48, SD = 1.73; female: n = 397, M = 8.40, SD = 1.86), (t(509) = .41, p = .87)
-
Psi-Q sound (male: n = 114, M = 8.39, SD = 1.95; female: n = 397, M = 8.33, SD = 1.96), (t(509) = .26, p = .74)
-
Psi-Q smell (male: n = 113, M = 7.64, SD = 1.92; female: n = 396, M = 7.37, SD = 2.38), (t(507) = 1.14, p = .11)
-
Psi-Q touch (male: n = 113, M = 8.10, SD = 2.08; female: n = 397, M = 8.29, SD = 1.92), (t(508) = − .88, p = .21)
-
Psi-Q taste (male: n = 113, M = 7.99, SD = 2.00; female: n = 397, M = 7.67, SD = 2.19), (t(508) = 1.43, p = .55)
-
Psi-Q body sensation (male: n = 113, M = 8.04, SD = 1.85; female: n = 396, M = 7.87, SD = 1.96), (t(507) = .80, p = .82)
-
Psi-Q emotion (male: n = 113, M = 7.92, SD = 1.92; female: n = 396, M = 7.77, SD = 2.16), (t(507) = .67, p = .84)
Age groups were tested across all the Psi-Q subscales, and there was a main effect of age group found for the smell (F(4, 509) = 6.14, p < .001, η2 = .05) and taste (F(4, 502) = 3.78, p = .005, η2 = .03) subscales. For the smell subscale, Bonferroni post hoc correction demonstrated significant differences between the 18–25 (M = 6.70, SD = 2.41) age group and the older age groups: 31–40 (M = 7.61, SD = 2.24, p < 0.01), 41–50 (M = 7.88, SD = 1.58, p < 0.01), 51 and above (M = 8.53, SD = 2.25, p < 0.001). There was a steady increase in the average scores in the smell subscale from the youngest to oldest age groups, indicating that the youngest participants reported poorer smell imagery than all others, who did not differ from each other (Fig. 2).
For the taste subscale, Bonferroni post hoc correction demonstrated significantly lower taste imagery in the youngest participants (18–25: M = 7.27, SD = 2.29) compared to the 31-40-year-old participants (M = 7.97, SD = 2.02, p = .04) and the oldest participants (51 and above: M = 8.61, SD = 2.10, p = .02) (Fig. 3).
There was a significant main effect of education for the Psi-Q body sensation scale (F(4, 511) = 2.79, p = .03, η2 = .02). However, post hoc Bonferroni correction revealed no significant differences between the education types. There were no other significant differences for education for the overall Psi-Q (F(4, 510) = 2.24, p = .06), as well as the Psi-Q vision (F(4, 510) = 1.01, p = .40), Psi-Q sound (F(4, 510) = 1.32, p = .26), Psi-Q smell (F(4, 510) = 1.53, p = .19), Psi-Q touch (F(4, 510) = 1.47, p = .21), Psi-Q taste (F(4, 510) = 2.25, p = .06) and the Psi-Q emotion (F(4, 510) = 2.33, p = .06) subscales.
There were also no significant differences for occupation found for the overall Psi-Q scale (F(10, 500) = 1.20, p = .29), as well as the Psi-Q vision (F(10, 500) = .74, p = .68), Psi-Q sound (F(10, 500) = 1.33, p = .21), Psi-Q smell (F(10, 500) = .98, p = .46), Psi-Q touch (F(10, 500) = 1.26, p = .25), Psi-Q taste (F(10, 500) = 1.54, p = .12), Psi-Q body sensation (F(10, 500) = 1.15, p = .32) and the Psi-Q emotion (F(10, 500) = 1.35, p = .20) subscale.
Cultural groups were tested across all the Psi-Q subscales. Table 4 depicts the means and SDs of each subscale for each cultural group. There was a main effect of cultural groups for the overall Psi-Q score (F(5, 504) = 4.75, p < .001, η2 = .05), as well as for the subscales: vision (F(5, 504) = 3.18, p = .008, η2 = .03), sound (F(5, 504) = 3.61, p = .003, η2 = .04), smell (F(5, 502) = 5.84, p < .001, η2 = .06), touch (F(5, 503) = 2.92, p = .013, η2 = .03), taste (F(5, 503) = 4.16, p = .001, η2 = .04), body sensation (F(5, 502) = 3.74, p = .002, η2 = .04), and emotion (F(5, 502) = 3.84, p = .002, η2 = .04).
Table 4 Psi-Q subscale means for each cultural group
Cultural Grouping
|
Psi-Q subscale
|
Mean (SD)
|
Arabian Gulf
|
Vision
|
Sound
|
Smell
|
Touch
|
Taste
|
Body
|
Emotion
|
Overall
|
|
8.41 (1.55)
|
7.90 (1.66)
|
6.15 (2.81)
|
7.94 (1.68)
|
6.52 (2.52)
|
7.55 (1.82)
|
7.00 (2.09)
|
7.35 (1.63)
|
|
MENA
|
Vision
|
Sound
|
Smell
|
Touch
|
Taste
|
Body
|
Emotion
|
Overall
|
|
7.90 (1.81)
|
7.73 (2.36)
|
6.78 (2.52)
|
7.80 (2.18)
|
7.52 (2.01)
|
7.36 (1.92)
|
7.22 (2.25)
|
7.47 (1.77)
|
|
South Asia
|
Vision
|
Sound
|
Smell
|
Touch
|
Taste
|
Body
|
Emotion
|
Overall
|
|
8.27 (2.06)
|
8.34 (2.07)
|
7.32 (2.09)
|
8.19 (1.93)
|
7.79 (2.11)
|
7.81 (1.89)
|
7.79 (2.06)
|
7.90 (1.80)
|
|
South East Asia
|
Vision
|
Sound
|
Smell
|
Touch
|
Taste
|
Body
|
Emotion
|
Overall
|
|
8.86 (1.62)
|
8.82 (1.59)
|
8.01 (2.11)
|
8.77 (1.77)
|
8.30 (1.88)
|
8.48 (1.86)
|
8.25 (2.10)
|
8.50 (1.61)
|
|
WEIRD
|
Vision
|
Sound
|
Smell
|
Touch
|
Taste
|
Body
|
Emotion
|
Overall
|
|
8.64 (1.63)
|
8.41 (1.80)
|
7.87 (1.92)
|
8.19 (1.98)
|
7.64 (2.23)
|
7.95 (1.94)
|
7.93 (1.88)
|
8.09 (1.59)
|
|
Other
|
Vision
|
Sound
|
Smell
|
Touch
|
Taste
|
Body
|
Emotion
|
Overall
|
|
8.63 (1.48)
|
8.72 (1.45)
|
7.52 (2.73)
|
8.54 (1.78)
|
7.91 (2.24)
|
8.12 (2.14)
|
8.36 (2.03)
|
8.25 (1.64)
|
|
Overall, Bonferroni post hoc correction revealed a number of significantly lower scores for the MENA and AG groups compared to SEA and WEIRD participants (p’s range from < .05 - <.001), as summarized below and in Table 5:
Table 5 Significant differences found in cultural groups for the Psi-Q subscales
Psi-Q subscale
|
Highest: M (SD)
|
Lowest: M (SD)
|
Vision
|
SEA: 8.86 (1.62)
|
MENA: 7.90** (1.81)
|
Sound
|
SEA: 8.82 (1.59)
|
MENA: 7.73** (2.36)
|
Smell
|
SEA: 8.01 (2.12);
|
AG: 6.15** (2.81);
MENA: 6.78** (2.52)
|
WEIRD: 7.87 (1.92)
|
AG**; MENA*
|
Touch
|
SEA: 8.77 (1.77)
|
MENA: 7.80* (2.18)
|
Taste
|
SEA: 8.30 (1.88);
|
AG: 6.52** (2.52)
|
South Asia: 7.79 (2.11)
|
AG*
|
Body
|
SEA: 8.48 (1.86)
|
MENA: 7.36** (1.92)
|
Emotion
|
SEA: 8.25 (2.10)
|
AG: 7.001* (2.09);
MENA: 7.21* (2.25)
|
Total
|
SEA: 8.50 (1.61)
|
AG: 7.35** (1.63);
MENA: 7.47** (1.77)
|
*The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.
*p< 0.05; **p<0.01
-
Vision subscale: SEA participants reported significantly higher visual imagery scores (M = 8.86, SD = 1.62) than MENA participants (M = 7.90, SD = 1.81; p = .005).
-
Sound subscale: SEA participants reported significantly higher auditory imagery scores (M = 8.82, SD = 1.59) than MENA participants (M = 7.73, SD = 2.36; p = .002).
-
Smell subscale: SEA participants reported significantly higher olfactory imagery scores (M = 8.01, SD = 2.12) than both AG (M = 6.15, SD = 2.81; p < .001) and MENA participants (M = 6.78, SD = 2.52; p = .003); WEIRD participants also reported significantly higher olfactory scores (M = 7.87, SD = 1.92) than AG (p = .002) and MENA participants (p = .033).
-
Touch subscale: SEA participants reported significantly higher somatosensory imagery scores (M = 8.77, SD = 1.77) than MENA participants (M = 7.80, SD = 2.18, p = .01).
-
Taste subscale: both SEA (M = 8.30, SD = 1.88) and South Asian participants reported significantly higher gustatory imagery scores (M = 7.79, SD = 2.11) than AG (M = 6.52, SD = 2.52, p = < .001,.022) participants
-
Body sensation subscale: SEA participants reported significantly higher body sensation imagery scores (M = 8.48, SD = 1.86) than participants from MENA (M = 7.36, SD = 1.92, p = .001)
-
Emotional subscale: SEA participants reported significantly higher emotional imagery scores (M = 8.25, SD = 2.10) than both AG (M = 7.001, SD = 2.09, p = 0.03) and MENA participants (M = 7.22, SD = 2.25, p = .012).
Psi-Q and VVIQ: Correlations
Pearson correlation tests on participant responses (n = 519) revealed that the strength of imagery in the VVIQ scores had significant positive correlations with the imagery reported in other senses in the Psi-Q (see Table 6): From highest to lowest: vision (r = .71), sound (r = .64), touch (r = .61), bodily sensation (r = .60), smell (r = .55), emotion (r = .53) and taste (r = .51), all p’s < .01.
Table 6 Correlations of VVIQ categories with Psi-Q subscales
Psi-Q subscale
|
M, (SD)
|
VVIQ correlations
|
Vision
|
8.43, (1.82)
|
.71**
|
Sound
|
8.35, (1.95)
|
.64**
|
Touch
|
8.26, (1.94)
|
.61**
|
Body
|
7.92, (1.94)
|
.59**
|
Smell
|
7.41, (2.31)
|
.56**
|
Emotion
|
7.82, (2.11)
|
.53**
|
Taste
|
7.75, (2.14)
|
.50**
|
Overall Psi-Q
|
7.98, (1.73)
|
.69**
|
**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
A total of 20 individuals who fell within the aphantasia range on the VVIQ also completed the Psi-Q. Their Psi-Q vision scores were very low (M = 4.23, SD = 2.91) compared to the Psi-Q overall average (see table 6). Interestingly, we found significant correlations (all p < 0.05) between VVIQ scores with some of the Psi-Q subscales: Psi-Q overall (r = .52), emotion (r = .53), sound (r = .45), vision (r = .52) and taste (r = .48) modalities.
A total of 59 individuals who fell within the hyperphantasia range on the VVIQ also completed the Psi-Q. Their Psi-Q vision scores demonstrated a ceiling effect (M = 9.77, SD = .46). The VVIQ and Psi-Q subscale correlational analyses revealed a relationship only with the vision subscale (r = 0.29, p < .05).
[2] Note: Eight participants (1.41%) did not report their gender