DAVIES AND ALEXANDER QUALITY OF LIFE: IMPROVED QUALITY OF LIFE

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1 QUALITY OF LIFE: IMPROVED QUALITY OF LIFE PAPER 323 THE MAHARISHI TECHNOLOGY OF THE UNIFIED FIELD AND IMPROVED QUALITY OF LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES: A STUDY OF THE FIRST WORLD PEACE ASSEMBLY, AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS, 1979 J. L. DAVIES 1 and C. N. ALEXANDER 2 I Macquarie University, North Ryde, N.S.W., Australia 2 Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A. (Authors currently with the Department of Psychology, Maharishi International University, Fairfield, Iowa, U.S.A.) Research completed March 1983, revised June The collective practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field by a group of approximately 2,500 individuals in the U.S.A. was found to result in a holistic improvement in the quality of life throughout the nation, as reflected by reductions in violent crime, motor vehicle fatalities, air transport fatal accidents, and fatalities from accidents, suicides and homicides, and by improvements in important national economic indicators.-editors This study tests the predicted positive influence of collective practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field by a group of about 2,500 participants over a six-week period in 1979 on a wide range of quality of life indicators for the United States as a whole. As predicted, compared with levels expected for the same period on the basis of trends over the years , there were significant reductions for the U.S. during the six-week experimental period in motor vehicle fatalities (6.5%, p<.0001), violent crimes (3.4%, p<.02), air transport fatal accidents (20.8%, p<.05), and consistently across the 14 major independent categories of fatal accident (e.g., from fire, poisoning, etc.), suicide and homicide (mean 4.0%, p<.005). At the same time the Standard and Poor,s Composite 500 index of stock prices, a leading economic indicator, rose by 5.2 points, and the Dow Jones industrial index by 40.3 points. Time series intervention analysis showed a mean daily increase in the Standard and Poor,s index attributable to the six-week assembly of 0.26 points per day allowing for a nine-day lag (p<.04). Also as predicted, improvements in the state of Massachusetts, where the group was located, were significantly greater again than those for the rest of the U.S.: motor vehicle fatalities were down 18.9% (p<.05 in comparison to the smaller improvements for the rest of the U.S.), violent crimes by 10.1% (p<.00001) and air transport fatal accidents for the New England region, which includes Massachusetts, by 83.3% (p<.001). The consistent improvements across a broad range of independent indices of social order and across geographical areas during the experimental period are parsimoniously explained in terms of enhanced coherence in an underlying field of collective consciousness both in the U.S. as a whole and within Massachusetts through the collective practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field. INTRODUCTION Many studies have reported that the practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field, the Transcendental Meditation (TM) and TM-Sidhi program as taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, is effective in enhancing individual development and reducing negative behavior patterns (Alexander, 1982; 2549

2 SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON MAHARISHI'S TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION AND TM-SIDHI PROGRAMME, VOL. 4 Alexander, Davies, Newman, and Chandler, in press; Chalmers, Clements, Schenkluhn, and Weinless, in press, vols. 2-5; Dillbeck, 1983; Dillbeck and Orme Johnson, in press). Recent sociological studies, however, suggest that the technique may have a broader application in enhancing quality of life and preventing crime and disorder in urban populations. Dillbeck, Landrith, and Orme-J ohnson (1981) reported both an immediate decrease in crime rate and a sustained decrease in crime rate trend over five years when the proportion of the population practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique in 24 urban areas reached one percent (p<.01), as compared to both control cities and national trends, and after covarying for differences in demographic variables. Further, Dillbeck, Landrith, Polanzi, and Baker (in press) reported that in a study of a stratified random sample of 160 cities in the United States over a 15-year period the partial correlation between percentage of TM participants and decreases in crime rate remained significant after using multiple regression analysis to control for the effects of nine other factors that may have influenced outcome (including police coverage, population size, mean age, and education). In addition, cross-lagged panel analysis indicated that crime decreases followed increases in numbers practicing TM and not vice versa, supporting the prediction of a causal influence of the TM program on crime rate reduction. This phenomenon of increasing orderliness in society was termed the "Maharishi Effect" by the researchers who first documented it in 1974 (Borland and Landrith, 1977). It has been predicted (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 1978) that this broader effect of TM can be further amplified utilizing the more advanced TM-Sidhi program. The prediction is that during periods when this advanced technology is collectively and regularly practiced by groups numbering at least the square root of one percent of a large population (e.g., 1,000 for a population of 100 million), beneficial social changes will be apparent in that entire population. These changes, including reduced crime, accidents, and civil disorder, are predicted to occur as a spontaneous effect of collective practice of this technology independent of any social communication or contact of the participants with the larger population. According to the Vedic Psychology of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, from which this prediction is derived (Dillbeck and Orme-Johnson, in press; Orme- Johnson, Dillbeck, Alexander, Van den Berg, and Dillbeck, in press) this broad societal effect, which involves an influence over large distances without direct interaction on the surface level of behavior, is mediated by an underlying unified field of consciousness. When this field becomes enlivened in individual and collective consciousness through the practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field an influence of coherence is generated throughout the social system which is reflected in enhanced social order (reduced disorder) and improved quality of life. Principles by which such social coherence effects may be produced are suggested from analogous phenomena in physical systems. For example, while the intensity of ordinary incoherent light is proportional to the number of photons involved, the intensity of coherent laser light is proportional to the square of the number of photons. Thus a small subpopulation can produce a coherent influence greater than the incoherent effect of the population as a whole. Vedic Psychology equates incoherence or disorder in a system (be it physical, biological, or social) with stress arising from violation of the balanced structure of natural law. Coherence, order, and positive evolutionary trends, on the other hand, are said to arise when a system is in attunement with natural law: its behavior is the most efficient, balanced, and optimal for that system (Orme-Johnson et al., in press c). We know something about natural laws governing physical and biological systems: for example, a biological system exposed to extremes of temperature, or an inappropriate chemical environment, may be more susceptible to disease. In this sense, violation of natural law gives rise to disorder and suffering. Relatively little is known in modern social science about natural laws supporting optimal functioning in psychological and social systems, but there is at least broad agreement reflected in man-made social laws that certain behaviors (e.g., violent crime) are nonoptimal, or in violation of natural law. In its description of increased coherence in individual and collective consciousness through enlivenment of the unified field of natural law, Vedic Psychology is remarkably consonant with unified field theories in quantum physics (Hagelin, Clements, and Sarma, in press). In fact, the precise description in ancient Vedic Science of the structure and dynamics of a "self-interacting" unified field at the basis of subjective and objective existence is highly isomorphic with the description in modern physics of a unified field at the basis of the physical universe. Theoretical physi- 2550

3 QUALITY OF LIFE: IMPROVED QUALITY of LIFE cists have postulated that the most parsimonious explanation of this striking similarity is that it arises from different descriptions-from subjective and objective viewpoints respectively-of the same underlying unified field of all the laws of nature (Clements, Hagelin, Weinless, Sarma, and Badawi, in press; Hagelin et al., in press). The prediction of increased social coherence through collective practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field is readily operationalized and has been tested experimentally on a number of occasions since 1978 where groups in excess of the square root of one percent of urban, state, and national populations have collectively practiced this technology over periods of one to twelve weeks. Results so far reported have been consistent with the predictions. For example, Dillbeck, Foss, and Zimmermann (in press), using time series analytic procedures, reported improvement (p<.01) in a quality of life index which included total crime rate, highway accident rate, unemployment rate, pollution level, and alcohol and cigarette consumption rates, when 300 participants practiced this technology in small groups throughout the state of Rhode Island during a three-month period in 1978 in contrast both with prior trends and concurrent trends in nearby and demographically similar Delaware. Also, Burgmans, Van der Burgt, Langenkamp, and Verstegen (in press) found that during the three separate months where there had been consistent collective practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field by at least the square root of one percent of the population of Holland, there were reductions in total crime (p =.02,.04, and.03) and traffic accidents (p =.002,.08, and.02) of between 5 OJo and 31 OJo, relative to levels expected from prior and subsequent rates. The primary purpose of this study is to test the social coherence hypothesis on a much larger scale and across a broader range of indices than had previously been undertaken. In principle, if there are the required number of participants collectively practicing, morning and evening, the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field (the square root of one percent of the larger population), the larger social system should be positively influenced regardless of both population and geographical size. A social experiment on the U.S. as a whole provides a critical test of the generalizability of the social coherence phenomenon because of the vast size and geographical spread of the U.S. population relative to those involved in earlier studies. If the collective consciousness of the U.S. as a whole is capable of being influenced by this technology, it should be possible to detect positive changes across all regions of the U.S. In addition, however, since the prediction is that the influence of collective practice of this technology varies with the size of the group in relation to the size of the population influenced (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 1978), it may be that a more extreme influence of the Amherst World Peace Assembly will also be apparent within a clearly distinct subpopulation (the state of Massachusetts) more immediately surrounding the group. Further, since the prediction is that the influence of this technology is holistic and generalizable to all forms of disorder, it is important that it be evaluated across a wide range of measures. Prior to the course, various behavioral indices of social order had been predicted to improve with collective practice of this technology by researchers at Maharishi European Research University and were formulated into the MERU Ideal Society Index to assess the level of social coherence in all the main areas of society (Maharishi European Research University, 1978, 1979). On the basis of these predictions and the findings of prior social research studies, those measures were selected which: 1. represent the most clear or extreme violations of natural law (i.e., those which involve either death from external causes or criminal violence); 2. could be quantified on at least a monthly basis nationally and regionally by reference to publicly available data sources; and 3. were considered reliable and unambiguous relative to other measures of quality of life according to the various data collection agencies. Measures meeting these criteria were motor vehicle fatalities, violent crimes, air transport fatalities, and the 14 major independent categories of fatal accident, homicide, and suicide as assessed for the U.S. by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). In addition, the Standard and Poor's Composite 500 index of stock prices, a leading economic indicator for the U.S., was selected as a broad-based index of economic confidence which is potentially sensitive to short-term fluctuations such as that predicted for the period of the assembly. 2551

4 SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON MAHARISHI'S TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION AND TM-SIDHI PROGRAMME, VOL. 4 Hence, the present social experiment is designed to test two predictions: firstly, that in the U.S. as a whole during the period of regular collective practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field by the group of approximately 2,500 assembly participants in Amherst, Massachusetts, from 9 July to 20 August 1979, violent crime and death from accident, homicide, and suicide would decrease nationally in the U.S. and stock indices improve; and secondly, that such changes (where applicable) would be greater in Massachusetts than nationally. METHOD INDEPENDENT VARIABLES-The minimum number of participants collectively practicing the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field for a predicted influence on the population of the U.S. is 1,530, the square root of one percent of the total U.S. population (Orme-Johnson et al., in press c). This threshold was exceeded for the entire six-week experimental period, although by varying margins. From 9-19 July, there were approximately 1,570 participants; July, 2,770; 29 July to 6 August, 2,100; 7-13 August, 2,300; and August, 2,200. DEPENDENT VARIABLES 1. Motor Traffic Fatalities-Daily figures (allowing calculation of levels per six-week period) were available for the U.S. and Massachusetts through the Fatal Accident Reporting System of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for the years 1975 to Monthly figures for all states individually and grouped into ten geographical regions were also provided by NHTSA. 2. Violent Crimes-Monthly figures for violent crime (murder and nonnegligent homicide, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) were available from the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) section of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to 1981 for the U.S. and all states (divided into nine geographical regions). Only data from UCR reporting agencies covering all 12 months are included in the figures for each year by the FBI. 3. Air Transport Fatalities-Daily national figures both for numbers of fatalities and numbers of fatal accidents (i.e., accidents giving rise to one or more fatalities) were available from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for all years up to Monthly figures for each state (divided into nine geographical regions) were also provided by NTSB. 4. Fatalities from Accidents (11 Categories), Suicide, Homicide, and Undetermined External Cause Complete monthly figures for the U.S. as a whole (but not for each state) were available from 1973 to 1979 from the Vital Statistics section of the National Center for Health Statistics, covering all deaths from external causes, i.e., from several categories of accident, suicide, homicide, legal (police) intervention, and war (the 1972 figures covered only 500Jo of the total population). All categories of accidents are separately examined except nonindependent categories, minor categories (less than 500 fatalities in 1979-e.g., legal intervention, and war), and categories substantially redefined for 1979 (and subsequent years, under the Ninth Revision of the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases-WHO/ICD). The category for water transport fatalities was also excluded because it was not possible to separate out the substantial proportion of deaths from water transport accidents which occurred in international waters (i.e., outside the U.S.) where death certificates were completed within the U.S. This leaves 11 independent categories of accidents and three categories for fatalities from suicide, homicide, and cases where medical or legal authorities could not determine whether death was due to accident, suicide, or homicide. 5. Stock Prices-Daily (closing) values of the Standard and Poor's Composite 500 index of stock prices to 1981 were available from Standard and Poor's Statistical Service (1982). In addition, daily (closing) values of the Dow Jones industrial index of stock prices were available from The Wall Street Journal. Although the Dow Jones is widely accepted as a leading economic indicator for the U.S., and was examined for that reason, it is based on the price of the 30 leading industrial stocks as compared to 500 major industrial and utilities stocks which provide the broader (and therefore more conservative) base of the Standard and Poor's index. It is therefore the Standard and Poor's index which was selected for more detailed analysis. DESIGN AND ANALYSIS-For comparison with actual level, the predicted level for violent crime and for each type of fatality over the experimental period from 9 July to 20 August 1979, independent of any experimental effect, is calculated as the mean level in 2552

5 QUALITY OF LIFE: IMPROVED QUALITY OF LIFE the corresponding six-week period over all other years (1973-I978 and 1980-I981) for which data were available, the level for this period in each year being expressed as a proportion of the overall rate for that year. Any major distortion of predicted levels from either seasonal cycles or from variation in overall levels from year to year not specific to the July/ August period (e.g., due to changes in population levels) is thereby avoided. Where only monthly data were available (e.g., for violent crime), July and August I979 figures were taken as the best estimate of levels during the experimental period from 9 July to 20 August Years prior to 1973 and after 1981 were excluded due to limited availability of data: figures for 1982 were not available at the time of analysis for any of the indices, and 1972 vital statistics (mortality) data were incomplete (only 500Jo coverage). Motor vehicle traffic fatalities were available only from I975 and vital statistics data only to I979. Selection of these years also avoids confounding from possible effects of very large courses on the TM program held in the U.S. in July and August of 1970, I971, and I972, and on the TM-Sidhi program through much of 1982 and I983. (There were also brief periods in August of 1980 and I98I when there were sufficiently large groups for a possible influence in the U.S. as a whole. For purposes of the present study these were considered brief enough not to influence the data substantially. Any such influence would bias results against the predicted outcomes for this study.) The "experimental effect" (proposed influence of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field) can then be calculated as the difference between actual and predicted national levels during the assembly (hypothesis I) and evaluated by comparison of mean actual levels with mean predicted levels (one-tailed t-test) across the nine or ten separate geographical regions into which the U.S. is divided by the relevant data collection agencies or, in the case of vital statistics data, across the 14 separate categories of accident, suicide, and homicide taken as independent indices of the predicted reduction in societal disorder. Evaluation of improvements in the U.S. as a whole through analysis of the separate geographical regions provides a test of the specific prediction that the whole U.S. population will be influenced by the group practicing this technology; not merely that there will be an average improvement for the U.S. due entirely to a sharp change in the area or population immediately surrounding the group in Amherst, which can be evaluated separately. The t-test analysis reduces the data to a simple paired comparison where independence of data points over time is not at issue and time series analysis is not applicable. Independence of the different geographical regions can reasonably be assumed in that the regions are defined by the data collection agencies as reflecting meaningful geographic and demographic differences with distinct characteristics in relation to the data, and because the regional populations are mutually exclusive at any one time. National factors, which influence all regions, may be regarded as analogous to social, cultural, or educational factors which inevitably influence all independent subjects in an experiment. In addition, a formal test based on studentized range was conducted for each set of levels (actual and predicted) on each dependent variable. Though group sizes are small, the results of this test did not allow us to reject the assumption of normality, and therefore t-tests were considered appropriate for analysis of the experimental effect. Similarly, the evaluation of improvements for the U.S. as a whole through analysis of the I4 separate categories of external cause of death (for which regional data were not available) provides a test of the prediction that the influence of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field will be holistic, and hence reflected in improvement across a broad range of indices of social disorder. Independence of the 14 categories can reasonably be assumed in that they have been defined by the WHO so as to be mutually exclusive and reflect meaningful differences in types of fatalities, and because the same people or events cannot be involved in the different categories. Again, the studentized range test did not allow the assumption of normality to be rejected, and the t-test was used for analysis of the experimental effect. Whether the reduction in Massachusetts on each indicator is greater again than for the U.S. generally (hypothesis 2) is assessed from the probability of its deviating significantly from the mean of the distribution of corresponding reductions for the other II major states of the U.S. (i.e., those with population size comparable to Massachusetts: over four million). For the stock price index, the change during the experimental period is compared with changes in the corresponding six-week period in each other year from I973 to However, given the nonindependence of data points, the significance of any differen- 2553

6 SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON MAHARISHI'S TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION AND TM-SIDHI PROGRAMME, VOL. 4 TABLE I NUMBER OF MOTOR VEHICLE TRAFFIC FATALITIES IN THE U.S. AND MASSACHUSETTS DURING SIX WEEKS OF COLLECTIVE PRACTICE OF THE MAHARISHI TECHNOLOGY OF THE UNIFIED FIELD FROM 9 JULY TO 20 AUGUST 1979: ACTUAL LEVELS VS. PREDICTED LEVELS (BASED ON YEARS ) TABLE 2 NUMBER OF VIOLENT CRIMES IN THE U.S. AND MASSACHUSETTS IN JULY/ AUGUST 1979 DURING WHICH THERE WAS A SIX-WEEK PERIOD OF COLLECTIVE PRACTICE OF THE MAHARISHI TECHNOLOGY OF THE UNIFIED FIELD: ACTUAL LEVELS VS. PREDICTED LEVELS (BASED ON YEARS ) U.S. MASSACHUSETTS u.s. MASSACHUSETTS Predicted Level Actual Level Reduction (experimental effect) 6,947 6, (6.50Jo) (18.90Jo) Predicted Level 209,636 5,470 Actual Level 202,480 4,920 Reduction 7, (experimental effect) (3.40Jo) (10.1 DJo) 125 cnj 120 ~>. --= l-oy ::u~ 115 ~ = 110 ~~ u'" 105 -ft 100 ~!: ~ ~ cnu ~>. --= 55 ~ = ~~ u'" -c ~~ 1--0 ~ U.S.A. JULY 9-AUGUST MASSACHUSETTS JULY 9-AUGUST 20 FIG. I. NUMBER OF MOTOR VEHICLE TRAFFIC FATALITIES IN THE U.S.A. AND MASSACHUSETTS BETWEEN 9 JULY AND 20 AUGUST AS A PERCENTAGE OF MEAN FATALITIES PER SIX WEEKS IN EACH YEAR. The actual level during the experimental period of collective practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field (light bar) is compared with the predicted level for the same period (mean level for this period across all other yearsdashed line). (Data source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.) tial improvement during the 1979 experimental period is evaluated via time series intervention analysis (Box and Jenkins, 1976; Box and Tiao, 1975; Tiao, Box, and Hamming, 1975) of daily index levels for the whole of RESULTS 1. MOTOR TRAFFIC FATALITIES-Actual and predicted motor traffic fatalities both nationally and for Massachusetts for the six-week experimental period are recorded in table 1 and compared with the corresponding rates in the remaining years in fig. 1. The reduction in national levels was found to be significant from analysis of actual versus predicted levels for the ten NHTSA geographical regions for the July I August 1979 period (t (9) = 6.50, p<.0001) 1 with an effect size rpb =.91 (an effect size of 0.37 or above is considered large in the behavioral sciences: see Cohen, 1977). Comparison of monthly data showed that the reduction for Massachusetts in July/ August 1979 (17.I OJo) was significantly greater (by a factor of 2.25) than the corresponding reduction in the eleven other major states in the U.S. The mean reduction for the major states in July I August 1979 was 7.6% with a standard deviation (S.D.) of 3.98 (z = 1.71, p<.05). 2. VIOLENT CRIMES-Actual and predicted violent crimes both nationally and for Massachusetts for the July/ August 1979 period are recorded in table 2, and compared with corresponding levels in the remaining years in fig. 2. The reduction of 3.40Jo in national levels was found to be significant from analysis of actual versus predicted levels for the nine UCR geographical regions (t (8) = 2.81, p<.02) with an effect size rpb =.70. The reduction of 10.1 OJo in Massachusetts was significantly greater (by a factor of 3.9) than the corresponding reduction in the U.S. as a whole, as reflected in the reductions in all other major states I. All levels of significance reported are for one-tailed tests due to the directionality of the predictions. 2554

7 QUALITY OF LIFE: IMPROVED QUALITY OF LIFE TABLE 3 NUMBER OF AIR TRANSPORT FATALITIES AND FATAL ACCIDENTS IN THE U.S. DURING SIX WEEKS OF COLLECTIVE PRACTICE ' OF THE MAHARISHI TECHNOLOGY OF THE UNIFIED FIELD FROM 9 JULY TO 20 AUGUST 1979 AND IN THE NEW ENGLAND REGION IN JULY/ AUGUST 1979: ACTUAL LEVELS VS. PREDICTED LEVELS (BASED ON YEARS ) FATALITIES FATAL ACCIDENTS u.s. New u.s. New England England U.S.A. JULY I AUGUST Predicted Level Actual Level Reduction (experimental effect) (37.40Jo) (87.OOJo) (20.80Jo) (83.30Jo) i ;., ffj-5 _.., ::!:'" ~>:c U' ū ~e ~=...l!1 9E >... 0 ~ MASSACHUSETTS JULY I AUGUST FIG. 2. NUMBER OF VIOLENT CRIMES IN THE U.S.A. AND MASSA CHUSETTS IN JULY AND AUGUST AS A PERCENTAGE OF MEAN VIOLENT CRIMES PER TWO MONTHS IN EACH YEAR. The actual level during the experimental period of collective practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field (light bar) is compared with the predicted level for the same period (mean level for this period across all other years-dashed line). (Data source: FBI Uniform Crime Reports.) U.S.A. JULY 9- AUGUST 20 (i.e., over four million population). The mean reduction for the major states was 2.60Jo with a standard deviation of 1.81 (z=4.15, p<.00001). 3. AIR TRANSPORT FATALITIES-Actual and predicted air transport fatalities and fatal accidents for the U.S. during the six-week experimental period and for the New England region in July/ August 1979 are recorded in table 3, and compared with the corresponding levels in the remaining years in fig. 3. Figures for fatal accidents were used as a more conservative basis for data analysis because in the case of air accidents, differences in fatalities were found to be greatly influenced by a few major accidents. For the U.S. the reduction of 20.8% in number of fatal accidents (cf. 37.4!1Jo in fatalities) was found to be significant from analysis of actual versus predicted levels for the nine NTSB geographical regions for the July/ August 1979 period (t(8)=2.1l,p<.05) with an effect size rpb = U.S A JULY 9- AUGUST 20 FIG. 3. NUMBER OF AIR TRANSPORT FATALITIES AND FATAL ACCIDENTS WITHIN THE U.S.A. BETWEEN 9 JULY AND 20 AUGUST 1979 AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE MEAN PER SIX WEEKS OR TWO MONTHS IN EACH YEAR. The actual level during the experimental period of collective practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field (light bar) is compared with the predicted level for the same period (mean level for this period across all other years-dashed line). (Data source: National Transportation Safety Board.) 2555

8 SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON MAHARISHI'S TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION AND TM-SIDHI PROGRAMME, VOL. 4 There were no fatal accidents in Massachusetts in July or August 1979 (the mean number in this period in other years from 1973 to 1981 was 2.0). Numbers were too low for statistical comparison of state figures, but for the surrounding New England region (of TABLE 4 NUMBER OF FATALITIES IN THE U.S. FROM 14 CATEGORIES OF ACCIDENT, SUICIDE, HOMICIDE, AND UNDETERMINED EXTERNAL CAUSE IN JULY/AUGUST 1979, DURING WHICH THERE WAS A SIX-WEEK PERIOD OF COLLECTIVE PRACTICE OF THE MAHARISHI TECHNOLOGY OF THE UNIFIED FIELD: ACTUAL LEVELS VS. PREDICTED LEVELS (BASED ON YEARS ) CAUSE OF DEATH I. Motor Vehicle (M. V.) Traffic (E ) 2. M. V. Nontraffic (E ) 3. Railway Transport (E ) 4. Air and Space Transport (E ) 5. Poisons (E ) 6. Falls (E ) 7. Fires (E ) 8. Drowning (E 910) PREDICTED LEVEL 10, , ,040 ACTUAL LEVEL 9, , ,995 REDUCTION N 'lo b b which Massachusetts is the major state) as a whole the drop in fatal accidents below predicted levels during this period in 1979 (by 83.30Jo) was significantly greater (by a factor of 4.8) than the corresponding reductions in the other eight NTSB regions (mean reduction across regions was 17.4%, S.D.=21.5, z=3.07, p<.001). 4. FATALITIES FROM ACCIDENT (11 CATEGORIES), SUICIDE, HOMICIDE, AND UNDETERMINED EX TERNAL CAUSE-Actual and predicted fatalities in each of the 14 major categories of accident, suicide, and homicide are recorded in table 4 and the differences between them are also illustrated in fig. 4. Taking these 14 categories as independent indices of the predicted reduction in societal disorder during the experimental period, the overall observed reduction below predicted levels (4.0% for all external causes of death in July/August 1979) is significant (1(13)= 3.17, p<.005) with an effect size rpb= STOCK PRICES-Over the period of the assembly, the Standard and Poor's Composite 500 index of stock prices increased by 5.2 points (from to 108.8), compared to an expected decrease of 0.2 points (mean change over the corresponding six-week period in all other years ). Similarly, the Dow Jones industrial index increased by 40.3 points (from to 886.5), compared to an expected decrease of 8.3. Time series intervention analysis of the daily closing values through 1979 was conducted for the Stan- 9. Choking (E ) II Firearms (E 922) II. Electricity (E 925) Undetermined Accident, Suicide, or Homicide (E ) Suicide (E ) 4,666 4, Homicide (E ) 3,978 3, a) Numbers in parentheses after each cause of death are the category numbers of the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision. b) Figures for M. V. Traffic and Air Transport fatalities do not correspond with those analyzed above, which are derived from different data sources and included the years 1980 and FIG. 4. REDUCTION IN 14 CATEGORIES OF FATAL ACCIDENT, SUI CIDE, AND HOMICIDE IN THE U.S.A. DURING JULY AND AUGUST The actual levels during the experimental period of collective practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field are compared with levels predicted from trends in the previous six-year period. (Data source: National Center for Health Statistics.) 2556

9 QUALITY OF LIFE: IMPROVED QUALITY OF LIFE ~X 110 l>::u.l 8o p. ~ 108 1S'To Increase in og Assembly Size Zon Assembly <u.li06 Begins Of- ~o:u3 Assembly Ends ~~104 z~ <O t; u 102.,.,:.: JULY AUG FIG. S. STANDARD AND POOR'S COMPOSITE SOO SI"OCK PRICE IN DEX FOR THE U.S.A. IN JULY AND AUGUST Collective practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field during the experimental period (9 July to 20 August) was a significant predictor of increased stock prices (p<.05). After the first ten days of the course the number of participants increased from 1,570 to 2,770, correspondingly the peak effect of the assembly was found to be lagged by nine trading days (eleven days). (Data source: Standard and Poor's Statistical Service.) dard and Poor's index, as the more broad-based and conservative of the two measures of change. Daily index values through July and August 1979 are illustrated in fig. 5 (trading days only). Examination of the plot of the 1979 Standard and Poor's series and its autocorrelation structure clearly suggests that the series is nonstationary with respect to the mean. Since Box-Jenkins time series analysis requires stationarity, it was necessary to analyze the price changes from day to day (the first difference of the raw series) which did appear to be a stationary series. 2 The standard iterative Box-Jenkins model-fitting methodology (tentative model identification, estimation and diagnostic checking: see Box and Jenkins, 1976) led to a satisfactory model which showed a statistically significant impact of the six-week assembly on changes in the Standard and Poor's index. It was found that allowing for a nine-day lag in the effect of the assembly on the index, the mean daily increase in the index attributable to the impact of the assembly was 0.26 points per day, compared with the mean daily change for the remainder of 1979 (t -ratio= 1.81, p =.035). Diagnostic checks of the residuals were satisfactory: no residual autocorrelations were significant (for lags I to 30), and the Ljung-Box 2. One large outlier (on 8 October), roughly four standard deviations from the mean for the first-differenced series, was reduced (from to in the raw series) in order to avoid undue distortion of the results of analysis of the series. As noted below (see footnote 3) this change did not significantly affect the estimated impact of the assembly on the index. Q-test (Ljung and Box, 1978) indicated that the first 30 residual autocorrelations were jointly not significantly different from zero ( Q (30) = 21.0, df = 29, p=.86). 3 DISCUSSION The results clearly confirm both hypotheses. As predicted in hypothesis 1, during the period of collective practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field by a group of at least the square root of one percent of the U.S. population, there were fewer violent crimes, accidents and suicides in the U.S. both across geographical regions and across independent categories of death in comparison to levels expected from trends over prior and subsequent years. Also, time series analysis indicated a significant increase in stock prices over the same period. As predicted in hypothesis 2, there were even greater improvements in Massachusetts (where the group was located) compared to the remainder of the U.S. This suggests that in a distinct population area, where the ratio of participants in collective practice compared to total population is higher, the influence appears to be greater. The consistency of the improvement across seemingly orthogonal indices (e.g., air accidents, accidental poisonings, suicides, stock prices) and across geographical areas is in accordance with our theoretical model and suggests that competing post hoc explanations specific to one or two indices (e.g., possible changes in volume of traffic or in level of police activity) are not applicable. They cannot parsimoniously explain the holistic pattern of simultaneous positive changes across the U.S. which was predicted and found in this study. A change in state or regional police coverage, for example, would affect only one area of the country (there was no national police cam- 3. The impact assessment component of the estimated model consisted of a zero- order transfer function parameter with a nine-day time delay. The so-called noise component of the model, which describes the basic autocorrelation structure or the basic time series behavior of the first-differenced Standard and Poor's index was a moving average of order I with a parameter estimate of and t-ratio of The estimated standard deviation of residuals was equal to 0.49 with 241 degrees of freedom and N = 243. Various attempts at over-fitting and under-fitting failed to significantly improve the model. As noted above, these results are based on analysis of the Standard and Poor's series after adjusting the firstdifferenced series to remove one extreme outlier. The results for the untransformed data were essentially identical: again the mean daily increase in the index attributable to the assembly was 0.26 allowing for a nine-day lag in the effect of the assembly, with a t-ratio of I. 79 and p =.037. The residuals of the model again appeared to be uncorrelated. 2557

10 SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON MAHARISHI'S TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION AND TM-SIDHI PROGRAMME, VOL. 4 paign at that time) and could not explain the reduction in electrical accidents, for example, or suicides. Also, both the precise timing of the 1979 conference (at least as to which six weeks were chosen within the available summer vacation period) and its location in Massachusetts (alternative sites were available in other states) were arbitrary in that the choices were made without reference to social trends that may have influenced the dependent variables. Nevertheless, even with respect to specific dependent variables, the nature of the impact of alternative influences should be considered. The most likely candidate for a possible alternative explanation especially with reference to motor vehicle fatalities would be the motor gasoline shortages in mid The impact of these shortages can be assessed by comparison with the impact of the more severe fuel crisis of early Motor vehicle gasoline supplied for domestic use in July I August 1979 was 3.I% below expected levels for these months; during the peak months of the 1974 crisis, February/March, supplies were 5.60Jo below expected levels. For aviation gasoline and jet fuel, there was no apparent shortage in July/ August 1979-supplies were 0.3% above expected levelsbut there was a severe shortfall in February/March 1974: supplies were l0.90jo below expected levels. 4 If any improvements found during the experimental period were due to gas shortages, then a similar or more marked improvement should be apparent during the more extreme shortages of In fact, during the 1974 crisis (February/March), as might be expected with severe fuel shortages in both areas, motor vehicle fatalities dropped by 10.2% below predicted levels (p<.005), and fatal air transport accidents by 9.711/o (p<.06). However the trend towards a drop in air accidents is less than half of the 20.8% drop during the 1979 experimental period. Moreover there was no apparent fuel shortage for air transport in No significant improvement occurred on the other major variables during the 1974 crisis (e.g., suicides fell by 0.8% and violent crimes by 1.6% while homicides rose by 1.3% above predicted levels and the Standard and Poor's index fell by 2.6 points, in contrast to a predicted rise of 0.5) and no distinction was apparent between Massachusetts and 4. Monthly figures for motor vehicle and aviation gasoline and jet fuel supplied for domestic use in the U.S. were obtained from the Energy Information Administration of the Department of Energy (Energy Data Reports and Petroleum Supply Annual). To ensure comparability, expected levels for fuel supplies were calculated on a similar basis as were expected levels of fatalities. the remainder of the U.S. on these variables. 5 Hence while reductions specifically in motor vehicle accidents for the U.S. as a whole, but not the greater reduction in Massachusetts which was twice that of the U.S., may possibly be explicable in terms of motor vehicle gasoline shortages in mid-1979, the simultaneous improvements across a broad range of independent indices of social order, throughout the U.S., and particularly in Massachusetts, requires a deeper explanation. From the perspective of Vedic Psychology (Dillbeck and Orme-Johnson, in press; Orme-Johnson et al., in press c), this holistic pattern of improved social trends may be understood as a reflection of enhanced coherence in collective consciousness, directly resulting from collective practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field by the group at Amherst. Just as individual practice of this technology is associated with greater EEG coherence, improved cognitive and creative skills, neutralization of stress and tension, and reductions in negative behavior patterns (e.g., Alexander, 1982; Dillbeck and Bronson, 1981; Dillbeck, Orme-Johnson, and Wallace, 1981; Farrow and Hebert, 1982; Nidich, Ryncarz, Abrams, and Orme-Johnson, 1983; Orme Johnson and Haynes, 1981), so it appears that collective practice may be associated with greater intersubject EEG coherence (Orme-Johnson, Dillbeck, Wallace, and Landrith, 1982, reported increased EEG coherence between subjects coinciding with collective practice by the group at Amherst, even at some distance from the group), as well as improved economic trends and reductions in stress and indices of disorder (negative behavior) in society. In each case, according to Vedic Psychology, the effect is mediated by the field nature of consciousness in its fully self-referral state-transcendental consciousness-which is identified with the unified field of all the laws of nature. As individual and collective consciousness become more coherent through this technology, all behavior is said to become more coherent and spontaneously more in harmony with the full range of natural law, and on 5. Expected levels for February/March 1974 were calculated on a similar basis and using the same period ( ) as for the 1979 experimental period, figures during the earlier period being expressed as a proportion of the year from July to June, rather than of the calender year (see method section). The significance of any reduction below expected levels was assessed from the size of the deviation of the actual level in February/March 1974 from the mean level for this period in all other years from 1973 to 1981 ( z-score). Because NHTSA figures for motor vehicle fatalities were not available for years before 1975, NCHS figures were used. 2558

11 QUALITY OF LIFE: IMPROVED QUALITY OF LIFE that basis with the laws of society (Orme-Johnson et al., in press c). Social disorder and destructive behavior (such as violent crimes, accidents, and suicides), which may be understood as arising from "violation" of this coherent structure of the laws of nature, are reduced as coherence (order) increases. Hence, a parsimonious explanation of the simultaneous improvements in diverse indices of social order across the whole population of the U.S. is possible in terms of increased coherence in collective consciousness, as the single factor common to all such measures, through the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field. The apparent size of the national reductions in violent crime (3.407o) and motor vehicle fatalities (6.507o) is not as large as those reported by Burgmans et al. (in press) from the series of three similar experiments in Holland (31, 13, and 20 percent reductions in traffic accidents; 12, 8, and 5 percent reductions in crimes). Nevertheless, effect sizes are very high in each case. It may be that the difference is due to the relatively compact population and to a greater homogeneity in the culture and local functioning of natural law in that country compared to the U.S. This interpretation is supported by the fact that the size of the apparent reductions within the state of Massachusetts are similar to those reported in Holland. On the other hand, the number of participants in collective practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field was much higher in Massachusetts. The lack of a correspondingly greater impact may be due to more fluid boundary conditions for Massachusetts as part of a larger national entity; i.e., the impact may diffuse in the entire U.S. population more readily than from Holland to other nations in Europe, whose cultures and hence collective consciousness are so markedly different. Further study of the potential relevance of such boundaries and differences is needed. The markedly greater reduction in air accidents (20.807o and o) as compared to other categories, suggests that the influence of this technology may also vary with the nature of the dependent variable and not only with the degree of disorder it reflects, or the reliability of its measurement (the factors which guided the selection of the dependent variables). Such differences in the pattern of change, if found to be consistent over time, may also prove useful in developing a more detailed understanding of the mechanics of the effect. The apparent lag between collective practice of this technology and associated improvements in stock price indices may be understood in two ways. Given that this was the first occasion on which this projected minimum threshold for an influence on the U.S. as a whole (1,530) had been achieved, it may be that a more substantial margin (group size was 1,570 during the first ten days of the assembly) was required for the assembly to initially enliven U.S. collective consciousness to a sufficient degree for greater coherence to be reflected in improved economic confidence rather than only in reduction of the more extreme forms of disorder. After these first ten days (corresponding to the first eight trading days of the stock price series), there was an immediate 7507o increase in the number of assembly participants at Amherst to 2,770, and numbers remained above 2,000 for the rest of the experimental period. Inspection of the stock price series (fig. 5) shows a steady increase from this time. Alternatively, or in addition, it may be that the peak effect of the assembly on stock prices in fact occurs after some days delay. As discussed earlier, both immediate and delayed effects of this technology have been observed in analysis of crime trends (Dillbeck et al., in press b), and provide evidence for a causal role of the practice as the precursor and not merely the correlate of improved indices of quality of life. Recent analyses (e.g., Lanford, in press b) of the relationship between collective practice of this technology and stock price indices indicate a lag in the same direction as in the present study consistent with this causal interpretation. The results of the Amherst assembly provide a striking replication of the social coherence effect of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field across independent measures and geographical regions of the United States. However, the Amherst investigation cannot in itself further address the issue of replication over time because it represents a single, 40-day experimental period. The continuous, concentrated influence of this large group should maximize the likelihood of experimental impact, but it does not provide separate replications of this effect over longer periods. In addition to the Rhode Island study, and since the present analysis of the impact of the Amherst assembly was completed, there have been further studies on the impact of more recent "coherence creating assemblies," in which it has also consistently been found that a wide range of independent quality 2559

12 SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON MAHARISHI'S TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION AND TM-SIDHI PROGRAMME, VOL. 4 of life indicators undergo simultaneous positive change in comparison to appropriate baseline periods. During an experiment on a national level in Israel, over a two-month period, when the square root of one percent threshold was approached for that nation, simultaneous improvements were found across eight measures representing three quality of life domains: reduction of the fighting in Lebanon and of negative national affect in Israel as reflected in the media; enhanced value of national stock price indices; and reduced accidents and improved ecological conditions in Jerusalem (Orme-Johnson, Alexander, Davies, Chandler, and Larimore, in press). Three of the changes, in fact, directly replicate the Amherst results with similar measures in a quite different national setting: rate of motor vehicle accidents and fires (in Jerusalem) and higher values on the national stock market in Tel Aviv. Recently, there has been an investigation conducted on a still larger scale than that of the Amherst study (and for which the Amherst course can be understood as a precursor): a global research study of the effects of the Taste of Utopia Assembly, held from 17 December to 6 January 1984 at Maharishi International University (MIU) in Fairfield, Iowa (Orme-Johnson, Cavanaugh, Alexander, Dillbeck, Gelderloos, Lanford, and Abou Nader, in press). During this assembly, an experiment was conducted which predicted global enhancement across a wide range of quality of life measures when the square root of one percent of the entire world's population (approx. 7,000) gathered in one place to practice the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field. The same logic which motivated the Amherst study was now applied on a global scale-if the square root of one percent of a population is sufficient to enhance quality of life in the larger social system, this principle should apply regardless of the size of the population under investigation. Again, a wide range of indicators (but now across continents) were found to undergo simultaneous positive change in comparison with the periods immediately before and after the assembly and/ or comparable periods during prior years. A number of these findings replicated, on a global scale, changes that were found with the Amherst study, including simultaneous rise on world stock markets (also see the time series analysis of Cavanaugh, Orme-Johnson, and Gelderloos, in press), reduced automobile fatalities (in the U.S., Australia, and South Africa), reduced air transport fatalities (U.S. and worldwide), and reduced crime rate (Washington, D.C. in the U.S., Karachi in Pakistan, and the state of Victoria in Australia-the only sources from which data was received in time for the analysis). In another recent investigation of a single major city (Washington, D.C.), time series analysis indicated significant improvements on two quality of life indicators when the proposed threshold was surpassed in comparison to the remainder of the period. These two findings on a city level replicated those of the Amherst study on a national level: reduced homicides (Lanford, in press a) and enhanced stock prices in the Washington, D.C. area (Lanford, in press b). Several studies focusing on fewer variables have also replicated findings from the Amherst study. These investigations include time series analyses revealing fewer daily motor vehicle traffic fatalities in the U.S. during 1982 (adjusting for daily trends over the prior seven years) as numbers involved in the collective practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field increased (Dillbeck, Larimore, and Wallace, in press) and lower crime rate in the Union Territory of Delhi, India (Dillbeck, Cavanaugh, and Van den Berg, in press) during a five-month period when the square root of one percent threshold was exceeded. In addition, lower suicide and motor vehicle accident rates were found for 24 experimental (one percent participating in the TM program) versus control U.S. cities over a ten-year period after covarying for relevant demographics (Landrith and Dillbeck, in press). The design and cities covered in this latter study are the same as for the Dillbeck et a!. (1981a) study on crime reduction through the effect of one percent practicing the TM program; hence, the two studies together again replicate on a city level simultaneous improvement on multiple measures of quality of life that were observed on a national level during the Amherst course. Finally, a regression analysis of the combined impact of the number of people practicing the TM program in the U.S. and the number engaged in collective practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field, over a 24-year period to 1983 (Orme Johnson and Gelderloos, in press), indicated that this factor accounted for 55% of the total variance of quality of life in the U.S. over this period, as measured by an index of 12 measures in the areas of crime, justice, health, education, economic welfare, creativity, marital stability, and safety (p<.0001). Further, cross-correlation analysis showed that in- 2560

13 QUALITY OF LIFE: IMPROVED QUALITY OF LIFE creases in number of practitioners led the increases in quality of life, supporting the interpretation that the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field was the causative factor responsible for the improvement in quality of life. This interpretation was further supported by the finding that improvement in quality of life in the state of Iowa was significantly greater than for the rest of the U.S. during the period of maximum participation in this technology at MIU in Iowa (p =.0065). Three of the measures used in the index (crime, suicides, and motor vehicle fatalities) were similar to those in the present study, and in both studies a larger effect was observed in the state in which the assembly was held. Thus it is apparent that although the Amherst investigation provides a single instance of the predicted social coherence effect of this technology, the outcomes of this study are replicable on the national level in the U.S. at different times, as well as in different locations and on different scales, suggesting an effect which is generalizable independent of time and place. Moreover, while the design of this study provides support for the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field as the causal factor responsible for the observed improvements in social coherence, this interpretation is further strengthened by these more recent studies. For example, the present analysis would seem to preclude explanation in terms of seasonal effects or broad trends from year to year through comparison with levels for the corresponding period in prior and subsequent years calculated as a proportion of the total for each year; this view is also strengthened through replication of the effect during different seasons (e.g., Orme-Johnson eta!., in press b) and over successive seasons and years (e.g., Abou Nader, Alexander, and Davies, in press). Similarly, the consistency of improvement across independent indices of social order in this study (in contrast to changes during the 1974 fuel crisis) and the more extreme changes in Massachusetts where the group was located would appear to exclude any influence that the observed general improvements were due to specific factors such as motor vehicle gasoline shortages. This conclusion is supported by the finding that during the Taste of Utopia Assembly (Orme-Johnson et al., in press b) there were again fewer traffic fatalities as well as improvements across other indices of social coherence in the U.S., despite record high levels of motor vehicle miles driven during that period. The Amherst study constitutes a distinct social experiment which tests for the first time the predicted influence of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field on a population and geographical area the size of the U.S. Its findings suggest that the beneficial effects of this technology on a societal level, as predicted (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 1978) and replicated in a number of other studies, is reliable and may be projected across vast distances, with broad-rangi~g practical benefit to the quality of life of a population as large as that of the U.S. This study provides further support for the Vedic model of consciousness as a unified field of natural law capable of mediating widespread and holistic improvements in the quality of life in our society. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We wish to thank Dr. Ken Cavanaugh for his invaluable contribution in analysis of the stock market indices. REFERENCES ABOU NADER, T. M.; ALEXANDER, C. N.; and DAVIES, J. L. In press. 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