Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2025

Abstract

Developmental psychology and psychiatry have not considered the effect the conviction that one has lived before as another person has on identity formation, yet past-life memories (PLMs) clearly can impact self-image and personality. Children and adults with PLMs are readily found in societies with reincarnation beliefs, such as the Druze of Lebanon, Israel, Syria, and Jordan. This report concerns the impact of PLMs on the personality development of a Lebanese Druze man, Rabih Elawar, whose childhood claims to have been a distant relative, Chowki Asaad Sabra Elawar, were studied by Ian Stevenson between 1969 and 1978. At 58–60 years in 2023–2025, Rabih retained clear memories of Chowki’s life. His strong identification with Chowki began to wane in middle childhood, and Rabih feels that he had forged his own identity by adolescence. Nonetheless, Rabih continues to display several of Chowki’s core personality and behavioral traits. The importance of distinguishing between explicit and implicit PLMs, which may have differential impacts on personality development, is discussed. It is argued that PLMs should be considered a foundation of personal identity along with hereditary and environmental influences. The study’s findings contrast with the psychoanalytic model of Erik Erikson, still influential in developmental psychology and psychiatry.

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