Journal of Near-Death Studies, volume 13, issue 3
Describing the Light: Attribution Theory as an Explanation of the Near-Death Experience
Norton, M. C., & Sahlman, J. M.
Attribution theory--which states that by offering causal explanations, individuals attempt to answer questions of "why?"--focuses on how information is used to create causal inferences and answer causal questions. The finding that near-death experiencers rarely describe unknown events, characters, or objects suggests that NDErs make attributions to answer why these experiences occurred. Examining various descriptions of NDEs demonstrates how attribution theory explains individuals descriptions of their NDEs.
