Additionally of concern is the paucity of research evaluating the validity of the self-transcendence as a measure of spiritual aspects of personality. Evidence relevant to the validity of the scale is provided by a study by MacDonald and Holland who found that people who were convinced that they had had a spiritual experience scored higher on self-transcendence compared to those who had not. Additionally they found that self-transcendence had positive and meaningful associations with four areas of spirituality: beliefs about the existence and relevance of spirituality; spiritual experience; paranormal beliefs; and traditional religiousness. (Although the dissolution of the self sub-dimension of self-transcendence had little relation with these things.) However, self-transcendence was largely unrelated to existential well-being. The latter was most strongly related to the Temperament and Character Inventory traits of high self-directedness and low harm avoidance. Self-directedness is associated with self-control and adaptability, whereas low harm avoidance is associated with emotional well-being. This suggests that self-transcendence may be a valid measure of areas of spirituality relating to spiritual beliefs, spiritual experiences, paranormal beliefs, and traditional religiousness, but is unrelated to having a sense of meaning and purpose in life which is more related to other features of personality. Additionally, the dissolution of the self in experience aspect of self-transcendence appears to have little relationship with spirituality and may be related to the more pathological aspects of the trait.
