How many people have deja experience?

The percentage of individuals experiencing at least one déjà vu in their lifetime was studied across 41 surveys, with surveys separated by the authors’ use of clinical and nonclinical samples and listed in decreasing order of deja vu incidence within each set.

Over all outcomes, the mean incidence was 67%, and the median incidence was 66%. For the 32 nonclinical outcomes, the mean incidence was 68%, and median incidence was 70%; for the 9 clinical outcomes, the mean was 55%, and the median incidence was 65%. Thus, it appears that about two thirds of individuals have experienced at least one deja vu in their life.

It is interesting that many behavioral scientists writing informally about the deja vu experience describe it as common and universal (Angell, 1908; Carrington, 1931; Chapman & Mensh, 1951; Conklin, 1935; Critchley, 1989; M. A. Harper, 1969; James, 1890; MacCurdy, 1925; Maudsley, 1889; Murphy, 1951; Titchener, 1928;Wilson, 1929). Most of these writers are well educated, and the evidence suggests that the experience is more common among this subgroup of individuals.

The frequency-of-occurrence statistics were calculated using those individuals who have experienced a deja vu, or experients, as a base. Thus, if 60% of respondents have experienced a deja vu and 20% reported deja vu once a month, this is reported as a monthly rate of 33% (20%/60%) among experients.