Improved quality of life in Rhode Island
Findings showed a unique improvement in Quality of Life (QOL) index for the whole of Rhode island
The researchers predicted that there would be an improvement in a composite Quality of Life (QOL) Index in Rhode Island when a group of 300 TM-Sidhas practiced their meditation technique in the State over a three month period from June 1978 to September 1978.
The arrival of the TM-Sidhas boosted the ability of the TM meditating population of 5,045 people to reach the Super Radiance threshold for the entire state.
The researchers compared data during the three month intervention period with similar monthly data available for a seven-year period between 1974 and 1980. Time series analysis was used to improve the accuracy of the findings.
The results confirmed exactly the predictions made at the start of the project. Statistics showed that the project period displayed a significant improvement in a QOL index across eight variable factors. These variables were:
- Total crime rate - FBI statistics
- Mortality rate - US Bureau of Census
- Motor vehicle fatality rate - Departments of Transportation RI and Delaware
- Auto accident rate Departments of Transportation RI and Delaware
- Unemployment rate - Department of Employment Security, RI; Department of Labor, Delaware
- Pollution (particulates) - Department of Environmental Management, RI; Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, Delaware
- Beer consumption rate - United States Brewers Association
- Cigarette consumption rate - Tobacco Tax Council, Richmond Virginia
A significant but less pronounced improvement in pre-project QOL scores was maintained for the post intervention period.
The research clearly indicates a causal relationship between the numbers of TM-Sidhas participating in the project and improvement in the quality of life in the state. This QOL improvement was in contrast to the results seen for Delaware, the state used as a control for the study.
Research authors
Dillbeck MC; Foss APO; and Zimmermann W J, Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa, USA, and MERU Research Institute, Mentmore, Buckinghamshire, England, 1983.
Research title
Consciousness as a field: The Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programme and changes in social indicators,
Publications
The Journal of Mind and Behavior 8: 67-103, 1987.
Scientific Research on Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programe MERU press, Collected Papers volume 4. Paper 321.