THE GROWTH OF COHERENCE IN SOCIETY THROUGH THE MAHARISHI EFFECT: REDUCED RATES OF SUICIDES AND AUTO ACCIDENTS

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1 LANDRITH AND DILLBECK QUALITY OF LIFE: GROWTH OF COHERENCE IN SOCIETY -PAPER317 PAPER 317 THE GROWTH OF COHERENCE IN SOCIETY THROUGH THE MAHARISHI EFFECT: REDUCED RATES OF SUICIDES AND AUTO ACCIDENTS GARLAND S. LANDRITH Ill and MICHAEL C. DILLBECK Maharishi International University, Fairfield, Iowa, U.S.A. Research completed May Both suicide and road traffic accident rates decreased in cities after one percent of their population had started practising the Transcendental Meditation technique.-editors This study tested the prediction that increased coherence of collective consciousness would be found in cities upon reaching the threshold level of one percent participation in the Transcendental Meditation (TM) program, and that this increased coherence would be reflected in decreased rates of suicides and auto accidents. The sample consisted of an experimental group of cities which reached the one-percent level of TM program participation in 1972 and a control group of cities each matched for an experimental city on population, college population, and geographic region. Prior to the intervention period, the two groups of cities did not differ significantly on rates of suicides or auto accidents. During the intervention period (1972 to 1977), the experimental cities displayed a decrease in rates of both suicides and auto accidents; this decrease was highly significant after controlling statistically for changes in the major demographic variable on which the two groups of cities differed. The results of this study indicate that the Transcendental Meditation program is a practical means for improving the quality of life in society as a whole and for reducing previously intractable social problems. INTRODUCTION Several hundred research studies on the Transcendental Meditation (TM) and TM-Sidhi program indicate that the program consistently improves the holistic quality of individual life in terms of physiological, psychological, and social functioning (Orme-Johnson and Farrow, 1977; Chalmers, Clements, Schenkluhn, and Weinless, in press). In addition to these effects on individual life, a number of recent studies offer dramatic evidence that when there is a sufficient proportion of TM and TM-Sidhi participants in a social group, a measurable improvement in the quality of life is found in the whole society. For example, crime rate decreases have been consistently found among cities in which as few as one percent of the population have been instructed in the TM program (Borland and Landrith, 1977; Dillbeck, in press; Dillbeck, Landrith, and Orme- Johnson, 1981; Hatchard, in press) and also at the national level when as few as the square root of one percent of the nation participate in the group practice of the TM-Sidhi program (Burgmans, Van der Burgt, Langenkamp, and Verstegen, in press). Furthermore, the use of statistical techniques of causal analysis in studies of large random samples of cities and metropolitan areas indicate that these decreases in crime rate found at the city level can be causally attributed to the practice of the TM program (Dillbeck, Landrith, Polani, and Baker, in press). The principles by which such effects were predicted to occur have been outlined by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of the TM and TM-Sidhi program (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 1977). Maharishi proposes that each individual in a social group contributes to the "collective consciousness" of the social group, and that the collective consciousness in turn influences the quality of life of each 2479

2 SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON MAHARISHI'S TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION AND TM-SIDHI PROGRAMME, VOL. 4 individual. The experience of the state of least excitation of consciousness, which occurs during the TM program and which is further enlivened during the TM-Sidhi program, is described as the experience of the "field" of pure consciousness. According to Maharishi, the field of pure consciousness is the unified field of natural law, the basic field of existence; this same field is being described mathematically by unified field theory in quantum physics as the source of all fields of matter and energy. Because this basic field of existence is the level of natural law that governs the integrated evolution of all aspects of nature, both objective and subjective, the enlivenment of this field at the basis of the collective consciousness of the whole social group is sufficient to create an influence of integration and evolutionary progress in the society. This results in greater coherence, orderliness, and positivity in the functioning of the social group as a whole. The growth of coherence in the collective consciousness of a society should be behaviorally retlected in the same holistic benefits for the society as found in individuals participating in the TM and TM-Sidhi program. The effects of individuals experiencing pure consciousness during the TM and TM-Sidhi program are predicted to affect others in the surrounding environment because of the field nature of pure consciousness. A few individuals could thus have an influence on the behavior of others without behavioral interaction. Such phase transitions to states of greater coherence in a system through the coherent functioning of only a few of the elements of the system occur in physical systems; such macroscopic coherent quantum effects as superfluidity and superconductivity are examples. The effect of a few individuals on the collective consciousness of the whole society was named the Maharishi Effect after the founder of the TM and TM-Sidhi program, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (Borland and Landrith, 1977). The purpose of the present study is to expand the range of variables studied in the research on the Maharishi Effect by looking at measures other than crime rate which would be indicative of increased coherence in collective consciousness. Variables other than crime rate have been studied at the state and national level (Burgmans et al., in press; Dillbeck, Foss, and Zimmermann, in press), but not yet at the city level among cities with one percent of their population participating in the Transcendental Meditation program. Two of the variables from these studies, investigated at the state or national level, which should be indicative of increased coherence in society, are rates of suicides and automobile accidents. These two variables are very different in terms of their specific etiology. Suicide seems to be primarily related to affective disturbance, such as depression or feelings of isolation (Clum, Patsiokas, and Luscomb, 1979; Goldney and Burvill, 198; Linehan and Nelson, 1981; Vandivort and Locke, 1979), although such cognitive variables as cognitive rigidity, field dependence, and external locus of control have also been implicated (Clum et al., 1979). Auto accidents are markedly influenced by disturbance of perceptual-motor and cognitive functioning leading to human error, such as occurs with fatigue or use of drugs or alcohol (What causes road accidents? 1978). However, a more general level at which both of these variables may be related is in terms of the effects of stress on individual functioning; that is, overwhelmingly stressful events as well as chronic stress often play a precipitating role in suicide (Clum et al., 1979; Hagnell and Rorsman, 198) and in motor vehicle accidents (Road accidents and driving behaviour, 1978). The benefits of the TM and TM-Sidhi program for the individual participant, if extended to society as a whole, should lead to decreases in rates of both suicides and auto accidents in the whole society. That is, the TM and TM-Sidhi program has been found to influence, on the individual level, the various factors found to be the causes of suicides and auto accidents. For example, individuals participating in the TM program have been found to show reductions in neuroticism, depression, and aggression (Van den Berg and Mulder, 1976; Ferguson and Gowan, 1976; Shapiro, 1975; Shecter, 1978; Tjoa, 1975), and longitudinal increases in field independence and internal locus of control (Pelletier, 1974). TM participants also display increased alertness during the twice-daily practice of the TM technique, as indicated by EEG coherence (Dill beck and Bronson, 1981; Levine, 1976), and increased alertness afterwards, as displayed behaviorally in faster reaction time (Reddy, 1977), and reduced variability of reaction time (Appelle and Oswald, 1974). In addition, TM meditators have been found to show more rapid physiological recovery from sudden stress (Orme Johnson, 1973) and increased physiological resistance to stress, as indicated by long-term longitudinal studies of blood pressure among hypertensive 248

3 LANDRITH AND DILLBECK QUALITY OF LIFE: GROWTH OF COHERENCE IN SOCIETY -PAPER317 patients (Simon, Oparil, and Kimball, 1977; Wallace et al., 1972). This study is a quasi-experimental study which assesses the effect on rates of suicides and auto accidents of cities reaching a threshold of one percent participation in the Transcendental Meditation program. Its design is similar to that of an earlier study of the Maharishi Effect on changes in crime rate trend (Dillbeck, Landrith, and Orme-Johnson, 1981), extending it to these two additional variables. METHOD SAMPLE-The sample of experimental cities consisted of all cities in the United States which had a population larger than 1, and which also had at least one percent of their population participating in the Transcendental Meditation program by the end of Cities which were a part of larger metropolitan areas were not included. In addition, two cities were not included because of large fluctuations in the number of TM program participants before or after the intervention period of this study. That is, in Amherst, Massachusetts, there was a large course in 1971 involving approximately 2, participants in the TM program, and in Santa Barbara, California, Maharishi International University was established in 1973 and then moved from this city in These large-scale interventions would be expected to confound the experimental design of this study. In addition, one city was omitted because data for both dependent variables of the study were not available for it Data on automobile accidents were not available from San Anselmo, California. 2. The assistance of Dr. Mohan Shrestha of Bowling Green State University in the selection of the control cities is gratefully acknowledged. One change from the original matching was made for this study; this was switching the control cities for Mill Valley and San Anselmo, California. The reason for this switch was that not only San Anselmo (see footnote I) but also the control for Mill Valley (Martine, California) had to be excluded from the study, and this switch allowed the maximum pairs of cities to be retained. Martine was omitted because it reported a major change in its procedures to monitor traffic and prevent accidents, funded by a large state grant; this occurred near the beginning of this study's intervention period and was associated with a large drop in accidents. (See Procedure section of text for a description of the method of contacting cities to determine procedural changes at the city level which might confound the data.) The new control for Mill Valley (Ukiah, California), like Mill Valley, San Anselmo, and Martine, is a small northern California city without a university. Each experimental city was matched with a control city on the variables of population, college population, and geographic region. Control cities each had a level of TM program participation by the end of 1972 which was less than.7 percent. The matching was done by an independent reseacher in One one-percent city, Fairbanks, Alaska, was omitted for lack of a control city which met the above criteria. The 21 experimental and 21 control cities are listed in Appendix A. PROCEDURE-The study assessed changes in rates of suicide in the period from 1967 to 1977, and auto accidents in the period from 1968 to Auto accidents were only available from 1968 for most cities. The years 1967 (or 1968) to 1972 constituted the baseline period, while the years 1972 to 1977 formed the intervention period. The dependent variables were the change in mean yearly rates of suicides and auto accidents from the baseline to the intervention period. The number of suicides in each city for each year was obtained from the publication Vital Statistics of the United States (U.S. Public Health Service, 1967 to 1977). The number of total auto accidents was obtained from each city or state police department by correspondence and telephone follow-up, where necessary. Because there were occasional large changes in the level of reported auto accidents within individual cities that might be due to changes in reporting procedures, cities in each group in which the change from baseline to intervention period was larger than one standard deviation for that group were contacted to determine whether there had been a change in reporting procedure. Several cities reported that there had been changes in reporting procedure at specific times; these changes were associated in each case with sudden shifts in the level of reported accidents. For this reason, the data on the years prior to or following the change in procedure (in the baseline and intervention period, respectively) were omitted from the calculation of the mean rate for that period. In addition, there were occasional cities for which the data for one or more years wee not able to be found by the city; mean rates als9 did not include these missing data points. Appendix A lists the data points which were either excluded or missing. Yearly population figures were obtained from the U.S. Bureau of Census for the years 196, 197, 1973, and 1975; populations were obtained for 2481

4 SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON MAHARISHI'S TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION AND TM-SIDHI PROGRAMME, VOL. 4 missing years by linearly interpolating for intervening years and linearly projecting for 1976 and 1977 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1972, 1977). The national organiation which teaches the Transcendental Meditation technique provided the number of participants in the TM program in each city (World Plan Executive Council of the United States, 1974, 1978). 3 From the above data the rates of suicides and auto accidents (number of suicides per year per 1, population and number of auto accidents per year per 1, population) and the percentage of TM program participants were computed. In order to statistically control for demographic variables that might confound the results, data on eight demographic variables were also obtained. The eight variables were taken from census data for the following years: population (1973), population density (197), per capita income (1972), percentage of families with income below the poverty level (197), percentage unemployed (197), median years education (197), percentage of persons in the age range (197), and percentage of persons in the same residence after five years (197). These variables were those used in an earlier study of crime rate changes in the same sample, and were originally chosen for their relation to crime rate change in previous research (Dillbeck, Landrith, and Orme Johnson, 1981); however, a number of them have also been found to be related to rates of occurrence of suicides or auto accidents. For example, both suicide and auto accident rates are related to age (DeGrove, 1979; Goldney and Burvill, 198; Holinger, 198; Robertson, 1981; Weissman, 1974); suicide has been related to socioeconomic status (Weissman, 1974) and is correlated with unemployment and population density in some but not all studies (Goldney and Burvill, 198; Vigderhous, 1978). RESULTS Data analysis was begun by comparing the experimental and control cities on the background demographic variables in order to assess what 3. The selection of experimental cities and control cities was made on the basis of the 1974 figures available at that time (see footnote 2). The correlations between 1972 percentage of TM participants and subsequent changes in the dependent variables, reported in the Results section, reflect 1978 revised data. These revisions account somewhat for changes in residence. statistical controls would be necessary in the primary analyses of changes in rates of suicides and auto accidents. The eight demographic variables and the baseline average rates of suicides and auto accidents were compared by a multivariate t-test. The experimental and control cities were found to differ significantly from one another on these variables, Hotelling T2 = 5.116, F(lO, 31) = 3.884, p.5. Univariate t-tests showed that three variables from 197 census data differed significantly between the two groups, median years education, percentage of persons in the same residence after five years, and percentage of persons in the age range The group means of these variables are listed in table 1 ; the experimental cities had higher levels of education and young persons and lower levels of population stability. A close inspection of the sample indicates that this is due to a larger university population in the experimental cities. TABLE I DEMOGRAPHIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN EXPERIMENTAL AND CoNTROL CITIES EXPERIMENTAL CITIES CONTROL CITIES Demographic Variable Mean S.E.M. Mean S.E.M. Median Years Education Stability of Residence Percent in Ages A stepwise discriminant analysis of the two groups of cities on the demographic variables indicated that only the variable of median years education made a significant independent contribution to the difference between cities, F{1, 4)=-=27.255,p.1. In addition to this variable, the change in median years education from 196 to 197 was also used as a covariate for statistical control in the major analyses; this was done because the purpose of the study is to assess changes from the period 1967 to 1977 in the major dependent variables. 4 Changes in mean rates of suicides and auto accidents from the baseline to the intervention period were assessed by a bivariate analysis of covariance, controlling for education level and change in educatiofl. level. The appropriateness of the bivariate 4. Census data for median years education in 196 was not available for two experimental cities and three control cities. These cities were assigned the mean value of their respective group for change in median education from 196 to

5 LANDRITH AND DILLBECK QUALITY OF LIFE: GROWTH OF COHERENCE IN SOCIETY -PAPER317 TABLE 2 CHANGES IN MEAN RATES OF SUICIDES AND AUTO ACCIDENTS IN EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL CITIES VARIABLE Change in suicide rate** Change in auto accident rate p.ool. EXPERIMENTAL CITIES Raw Scores Adjusted Scores Mean S.E.M. Mean S.E.M CONTROL CITIES Raw Scores Adjusted Scores Mean S.E.M. Mean S.E.M J ::> Cl s "' u llllllllllllllll MENTAL i=..j ::> Cl u U.l -4 ::r: u :OL FIG. I. CHANGE IN MEAN RATES OF SUICIDES AND AUTO ACCI DENTS ADJUSTED FOR COVARIATES analysis is indicated by the fact that the two dependent variables, change in mean rates of suicides and auto accidents, were significantly correlated, r=.396, 1(4)=2.73, p.1, although the change in these variables from 1968 to 1972 was not correlated, r = -.23, 1(29) = The bivariate analysis of covariance revealed a highly significant difference between the groups, Wilks A=.495, F(2, 37)=18.841, p.ooi. Univariate analyses of covariance indicated that the two groups differed on both change in mean rate of suicides, F(l, 38) = , p.1, and change in mean rate of auto accidents, F(l, 38) = 26.55, p.1. These significant group effects indicated a decrease m the experimental group in suicide rate and auto accident rate during the intervention period, in contrast to an increase of these rates for the control cities. The mean change in these variables for each group is listed in table 2 and illustrated in figure 1. In addition, the correlation between the percentage of TM program participants in 1972 and the adjusted change scores (adjusted for the covariates) was significant for both suicides and auto accidents, r= -.53, t(4) = , p.1; r=-.625, t(4)= -5.6, p.1, respectively. 5 Two additional analyses were also run to control for possible alternative hypotheses which might be suggested to account for these changes in the case of the auto accidents variable. There might be occasional changes in the way a state reported accidents, for example by increasing the threshold of the amount of damage at which accidents were recorded as monetary costs increased with inflation of the currency. Thus, it might be suggested that such changes could interact with the above findings in the case of auto accidents. In order to test this alternative hypothesis, all pairs of cities were omitted in which the experimental and control city were not in the same state. On this reduced sample of 15 experimental and 15 control cities, the significant difference between the groups on change in auto accident rates was still found, F{1, 26)= 18.35,p.1. The S. The regression lines for predicting change in suicide rates and automobile accident rates from the percentage of TM participants in 1972 were Y= -.387(X) and Y = -.493(X) , respectively. They-intercepts for changes in suicides and auto accidents (2.527 and 5.211) represent the predicted mean change in rates of these variables if there were no participants in the TM program in a city. 2483

6 SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON MAHARISHI'S TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION AND TM-SIDHI PROGRAMME, VOL. 4 adjusted group means of change in auto accidents for this reduced sample were for the experimental group and for the control group. These results indicate that any changes in reporting in the different states did not artifactually cause the changes in auto accident rates found above. Another analysis was run to control for the fact that some of the cities had baseline or intervention period means based on few data points because of either missing data or excluded data due to changes in reporting procedures by the city (see Appendix A). Estimates based on few data points might be unreliable; for this reason, pairs of cities were excluded in which one of the cities had a baseline period mean computed frorh less than three years or an intervention period mean based on less than four years. The results on the auto accident variable for this reduced sample of 17 experimental and 17 control cities was also sigr.ificant, F(1, 3) = , p.1. The adjusted group means for this second reduced sample were for the experimental group and for the control group, comparable to the other analyses. This indicates that the observed changes were not due to variations in the number of data points on which the means of the two periods were based. DISClTSSION A significant decrease in the rates of both suicides and auto accidents was found in cities with one percent of their population participating in the Transcendental Meditation program, in contrast to control cities. This finding represents a dramatic and important contribution to improving the quality of human life for two reasons. The first reason is that both variables, suicides and auto accidents, represent major concerns for society. Violent deaths (suicides, homicides, and accidents) are the leading cause of death in those younger than age 4, and suicide rates among adolescents have doubled from 1961 to 1975 (Holinger, 1979). Moreover, injuries from auto accidents constitute the health problem with the second greatest economic impact (after cancer), generating an annual cost of $14.4 billion in the United States (Hartunian, Smart, and Thompson, 198). The second reason for the importance of our findings is that the problem of suicide has previously proven to be intractible to prevention programs. It is generally acknowledged that there have been no successful programs for primary prevention of suicide in communities (Clum et al., 1979; Goldney and Burvill, 198). The decrease in suicide rate among the experimental cities is particularly striking because the experimental cities had a higher proportion of young people; as noted in the introduction, the rate of suicide among the young had previously been increasing greatly. The findings of the present study are consistent with the hypothesis that a small proportion of individuals in a city can influence the collective consciousness of the entire community, resulting in a change in behavior in the community as a whole. The decreases in suicide and auto accident rates occurred when the experimental cities reached the predicted threshold of participation in the TM program and was independent of changes in the one major demographic variable on which the groups of cities differed; in contrast, there was no significant difference between the two groups of cities in rates of either suicides or auto accidents during the baseline period. The fact that there was no direct program which was directed towards reducing the incidence of these problems, and the fact that the threshold level of one percent is too small to permit the explanation of these effects in terms of some type of behavioral interaction are evidence that they are the result of a field effect which occurs spontaneously as a result of increased coherence in the collective consciousness of the community. This perspective is further reinforced by the interesting result that prior to the intervention period, change in rates of suicide and auto accidents was not correlated, but their change during the experimental period was. This implies that some new factor which is fundamental to affective, cognitive, and perceptual-motor functioning was influenced. The position taken here is that it is consciousness which is basic to all of these aspects of individual life, and such results for the entire community give added support to the concept of coherence in collective consciousness. T-hese results obviously have a clear implication for governmental policy. In the context of an increasingly large body of research on the TM and TM-Sidhi program demonstrating such improvements in the quality of life in society, and in the context of the great human and financial burden of the problems of suicide and auto accidents, it is urged 2484

7 LANDRITH AND DILLBECK QUALITY OF LIFE: GROWTH OF COHERENCE IN SOCIETY -PAPER317 that the Transcendental Meditation program be adopted by governmental and educational institutions on a large scale. It is also proposed that the effect of such large-scale interventions on the quality of life in society be evaluated by government, insurance firms, and independent researchers. APPENDIX A SAMPLE OF CITIES EXPERIMENTAL CITIES CONTROL CITIES Name Change in Change in Rate Change in Change in Rate Name Suicide Rate of Auto Accidents Suicide Rate of Auto Accidents I. Davis, Ca Pleasant Hill, Ca Los Altos, Ca El Cerrito, Ca Mill Valley, Ca Ukiah, Ca Boulder, Co Fort Collins, Co Ames, Ia Norman, Ok Iowa City, Ia Oshkosh, Wi Chico, Ca Redding, Ca Moscow,!d Centralia, Wa Carbondale, II De Kalb, II Bloomington, In Columbia, Mo II. Lawrence, Ks Lafayette, ln Concord, Ma Bedford, Ma Princeton, N.J South Orange, N.J Ithaca, N.Y Oswego, N.Y Pullman, Wa Walla Walla, Wa Falls Church, Va Radford, Va Burlington, Vt Poughkeepsie, N.Y Bellingham, Wa Vancouver, Wa Chapel Hill, N.C Rocky Mount, N.C E. Lansing, Mi Ypsilanti, Mi Santa Cru, Ca Monterey, Ca changes are raw scores adjusted for covariates and expressed relative to expected value for no participation in the TM program (see Footnote 5). The control citie... hould have a mean of approximately ero on this measure according to the threshold model of the Maharishi Effect (as is the case), whik the experimental cities hould display a decrease from the value expected if there were no TM participants. Under this model the variability seen in the control cities is due lo random or noise componenh. NOTE: Cities with missing auto accident data: #4, 1%8-1969; # %9, 1976; #7, ; #8, ; #12, 1968, 1977; %8-197; %9, ; #33, 1968, 1977; #34, Cities with data excluded because of change in auto accident reporting procedure: #9, 1%8; #17, ; /128, 1977; #H, 1976; #38, 1%8-197; #42, Cities with data provided by the state: #6, /IS, #9. #1, #12. #13. #14, #15, #18, #32. #33, #34, #35, #36. #38, and #J9. REFERENCES APPELLE, S., and OSWALD, L. E Simple reaction time as a function of alertness and prior mental activity. Perceptual and Motor Skills 38: BERG, W. P. VAN DEN, and MULDER, B Psychological research on the effects of the Transcendental Meditation technique on a number of personality variables. Gedrag: Tijdschrift voor Psycho/ogie 4: BORLAND, C., and LANDRITH III, G Improved quality of city life through the Transcendental Meditation program: Decreased crime rate. In Scientific research on the Transcendental Meditation program: Collected papers, vol. 1, ed. D. W. Orme-Johnson and J. T. Farrow, pp Rheinweiler, W. Germany: MERU Press. (Hereafter cited as Collected papers.) BURGMANS, W. H. P.M.; BURGT, A. T. VANDER; LANGENKAMP, F. P. TH.; and VERSTEGEN, J. H. In press. Sociological effects of the group dynamics of consciousness: Decrease of crime and traffic accidents in Holland. In Scientific research on the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programme: Collected papers, vol. 4, ed. R. A. Chalmers, G. Clements, H. Schenkluhn, and M. Weinless. Rheinweiler, W. Germany: MERU Press. (Hereafter cited as Collected papers.) CHALMERS, R. A.; CLEMENTS, G.; SCHENKLUHN, H.; and WEINLESS, M. (Eds.). In press. Scientific research on the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programme: Collected papers, vols. 2, 3, and 4. Rheinweiler, W. Germany: MERU Press. (Hereafter cited as Collected papers.) CLUM, G. A.; PATSIOKAS, A. T.; and LUSCOMB, R. L Empirically based comprehensive treatment program for parasuicide. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 47: DEGROVE, W A three-factor path p.odel of Floida suicide rates. Social Science and Medicine 13: DILLBECK, M. C. In press. The Transcendental Meditation program and a compound probability model as predictors of crime rate change. In Collected papers, vol. 4. DILLBECK, M. C., and BRONSON, E. C Short- 2485

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