Test of a field theory of consciousness and social change: Time series analysis of participation in the TM-Sidhi program and reduction of violent death in the U.S.

Abstract

This study is part of a research program to test the hypothesis that consciousness has a fundamental field property that is relevant to social change in the direction of improved quality of life. The exogenous variable was the number of participants in the group practice of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) and TM-Sidhi program, a technology of consciousness predicted to reduce stress in society through a field of “pure consciousness.” The period of the study was 1982–1985, during which the size of a group of participants in Iowa was sufficient to have a measurable influence on the U.S. much of the time, according to theory; a secondary analysis also considered the period 1979–1985, including the time when the group of participants was smaller. The endogenous variable was a violence index comprising the number of weekly fatalities in the U.S. due to three major causes of violent death: motor vehicle fatalities, suicide, and homicide. Time series analysis using both the intervention analysis approach and the transfer function approach indicated a significant reduction in the violence index associated with the exogenous variable. Alternative hypotheses are discussed, as are the theoretical and practical implications of these findings for understanding social change and improving the quality of life.