Research on the Maharishi Effect

List of Scientific Research on the Maharishi Effect

David Orme-Johnson, PhD

Sixty-six papers discuss the effects of individuals or groups practicing the Transcendental Meditation and/or TM-Sidhi programs on both conflict-related variables and other social indicators of society’s quality of life. Of the 66 papers, 46 are research papers reporting 55 separate studies while the other 20 are concerned with theory, review, or critique. To read some of the papers click on the further reading tab.

Papers published in peer reviewed journals

Dillbeck, M. C., G. S. Landrith III, and D. W. Orme-Johnson. The Transcendental Meditation program and crime rate change in a sample of forty-eight cities. Journal of Crime and Justice 1981; 4:25–45.

Dillbeck, M. C., K. L. Cavanaugh, T. Glenn, D. W. Orme-Johnson, and V. Mittlefehldt. Consciousness as a field: The Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program and changes in social indicators. The Journal of Mind and Behavior 1987; 8(1):67–104.

Dillbeck, M. C., C. B. Banus, C. Polanzi, and G. S. Landrith III. Test of a field model of consciousness and social change: The Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program and decreased urban crime. The Journal of Mind and Behavior 1988; 9(4):457–486.

Orme-Johnson, D. W., C. N. Alexander, J. L. Davies, H. M. Chandler, and W. E. Larimore. International peace project in the Middle East: The effect of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field. Journal of Conflict Resolution 1988; 32(4):776–812.

Gelderloos, P., M. J. Frid, P. H. Goddard, X. Xue, and S. A.Löliger. Creating world peace through the collective practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field: Improved U.S.-Soviet relations. Social Science Perspectives Journal 1988; 2(4):80–94.

Orme-Johnson, D. W., and P. Gelderloos. The long-term effects of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field on the quality of life in the United States (1960 to 1983). Social Science Perspectives Journal 1988; 2(4):127-146.

Dillbeck, M. C. 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. Social Indicators Research 1990; 22:399–418.

Orme-Johnson, D. W., C. N. Alexander, and J. L. Davies. The effects of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field: Reply to a methodological critique. Journal of Conflict Resolution 1990; 34:756–768.

Assimakis P., and M. C. Dillbeck. Time series analysis of improved quality of life in Canada: Social change, collective consciousness, and the TM-Sidhi program. Psychological Reports 1995; 76:1171-1193.

Hatchard, G. D., A. J. Deans, K. L. Cavanaugh, and D. W. Orme-Johnson. The Maharishi Effect: A model for social improvement. Time series analysis of a phase transition to reduced crime in Merseyside metropolitan area. Psychology, Crime & Law 1996; 2(3):165-174.

J. S. Hagelin, M.V. Rainforth, D. W. Orme-Johnson, K. L. Cavanaugh, C. N. Alexander, S. F. Shatkin, et al. Effects of group practice of the Transcendental Meditation program on preventing violent crime in Washington, DC: Results of the National Demonstration Project, June–July 1993. Social Indicators Research 1999; 47(2):153-201.

Orme-Johnson, D. W., M. C. Dillbeck, C. N. Alexander, H. M. Chandler, and R. W. Cranson. Effects of large assemblies of participants in the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program on reducing international conflict and terrorism. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation 2003;36 (1/2/3/4):283-302.

Davies, J. L. and C. N. Alexander. Alleviating political violence through reducing collective tension: Impact Assessment analysis of the Lebanon war. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 2005, 17: 285-338.

Dillbeck, M. C., & Cavanaugh, K. L. (2016). Societal violence and collective consciousness: Reduction of U.S. homicide and urban violent crime rates. SAGE Open, 6(1), 1-16.

Hatchard, G., & Cavanaugh, K. L. (2017). The Effect of Coherent Collective Consciousness on National Quality of Life and Economic Performance Indicators—An Analysis of the IMD Index of National Competitive Advantage. Journal of Health and Environmental Research. Special Issue: Maharishi Vedic Science: Creating a Sustainable Future, 3(3-1), 16-31. doi:10.11648/j.jher.s.2017030301.12

Dillbeck, M. C., & Cavanaugh, K. L. (2017). Group Practice of the Transcendental Meditation® and TM-Sidhi® Program and Reductions in Infant Mortality and Drug-Related Death: A Quasi-Experimental Analysis. SAGE Open, January-March, 1-15. doi:10.1177/2158244017697164

Cavanaugh, K. L., & Dillbeck, M. C. (2017b). Researching U.S. urban murder rates and group practice of the Transcendental Meditation and TMSidhi program: Evaluation of a prospective quasi-experiment. Journal of Maharishi Vedic Research Institute, 5, 11-40.

Cavanaugh, K. L., & Dillbeck, M. C. (2017c). The contribution of proposed field effects of consciousness to the prevention of U.S. accidental fatalities: Theory and empirical tests. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 24(1-2), 53-86.

L. C. Fergusson & K. L. Cavanaugh (2019). Socio-political violence in Cambodia between 1990 and 2008: An explanatory mixed methods study of social coherence. Studies in Asian Social Science, 6(2), 1-45.

Dillbeck, M. C., G. S. Landrith III, and D. W. Orme-Johnson. The Transcendental Meditation program and crime rate change in a sample of forty-eight cities. Journal of Crime and Justice 1981; 4:25–45.

Papers published in professional conference proceedings or dissertations

Cavanaugh, K. L. Time series analysis of U.S. and Canadian inflation and unemployment: A test of a field-theoretic hypothesis. Proceedings of the American Statistical Association, Business and Economics Statistics Section; 1987:799-904.

Cavanaugh, K. L. Time series analysis of U.S. and Canadian inflation and unemployment: A test of a field-theoretic hypothesis. Proceedings of the American Statistical Association, Business and Economics Statistics Section; 1987:799-904.

Cavanaugh, K. L. and K. D. King. Simultaneous transfer function analysis of Okun’s misery index: improvements in the economic quality of life through Maharishi’s Vedic Science and technology of consciousness. Proceedings of the American Statistical Association, Business and Economics Statistics Section; 1988.

Cavanaugh K. L., K. D. King, and C. Ertuna. A multiple-input transfer function model of Okun’s misery index: An empirical test of the Maharishi Effect. Proceedings of the American Statistical Association, Business and Economics Statistics Section 1989:565-570.

Cavanaugh, K. L., K. D. King, and B. D. Titus. Consciousness and the quality of economic life: empirical research on the macroeconomic effects of the collective practice of Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program. Proceedings of the Midwest Management Society 1989 (Chicago, IL: Midwest Management Society), 183-190.

Gelderloos, P., K. L. Cavanaugh, and J. L. Davies. The dynamics of U.S.-Soviet relations, 1979–1986: A simultaneous transfer function analysis of U.S.-Soviet relations: A test of the Maharishi Effect. Proceedings of the American Statistical Association, Social Statistics Section, 1990:297–302.

Reeks, D. Improved Quality of Life in Iowa through the Maharishi Effect. Dissertation Abstracts International 1990; 51(12):6155B.

Dillbeck, M. C., and M. V. Rainforth. Impact assessment analysis of behavioral quality of life indices: Effects of group practice of the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program. Proceedings of the American Statistical Association, Social Statistics Section 1996:38–43.

Goodman R. S., D. W. Orme-Johnson, M. S. Rainforth, and D. H. Goodman. Transforming political institutions through individual and collective consciousness: The Maharishi Effect and government. Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association 1997; Washington, D.C.

Leffler, D. R. A Vedic approach to military defense: Reducing collective stress through the field effects of consciousness. Doctoral Dissertation, The Union Institute, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1997. Dissertation Abstracts International 1997; 58(08):3298A. Available at: http://www.davidleffler.com/doctoraldissertation.html

Papers Published in research anthologies

Borland, C. L., and G. S. Landrith III. Improved quality of life through the Transcendental Meditation program: Decreased crime rate. Scientific Research on the Transcendental Meditation Program : Collected Papers (Vol. 1). 2nd ed. Ed D. W. Orme-Johnson and J. T. Farrow. Livingston Manor, New York: Maharishi European Research University Press, 1977:651-658.

Lanford, A. G. The effect of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field on stock prices of Washington, D.C. area based corporations, 1980-83: A time series analysis. Scientific Research on Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi Program: Collected Papers, (Vol. 4). Ed. R. A. Chalmers et al. Vlodrop, The Netherlands: Maharishi Vedic University Press, 1989:2609-2615.

Alexander, C. N., T. M. Nader, K. L. Cavanaugh, J. L. Davies, M. C. Dillbeck, R. J. Kfoury, et al. The effect of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field on the war in Lebanon: A time series analysis of the influence of international and national coherence creating assemblies. Scientific Research on Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi Program: Collected Papers, (Vol. 4). Ed. R. A. Chalmers et al. Vlodrop, The Netherlands: Maharishi Vedic University Press, 1989:2687-2714.

Beresford, M. S., and G. Clements. The group dynamics of consciousness and the U.K. stock market. Scientific Research on Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi Program: Collected Papers, (Vol. 4). Ed. R. A. Chalmers et al. Vlodrop, The Netherlands: Maharishi Vedic University Press, 1989:2616-2622.

Burgmans, W. H. P. M., A. T. Van Der Burgt, F. P. T. Langenkamp, and J. H. Verstagen. Sociological effects of the group dynamics of consciousness: Decrease of crime and traffic accidents in Holland. Scientific Research on Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi Program: Collected Papers, (Vol. 4). Ed. R. A. Chalmers et al. Vlodrop, The Netherlands: Maharishi Vedic University Press, 1989:2566-2582.

Cavanaugh, K. L., D. W. Orme-Johnson, and P. Gelderloos. The effect of the Taste of Utopia Assembly on the World index of international stock prices. Scientific Research on Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi Program: Collected Papers, (Vol. 4). Ed. R. A. Chalmers et al. Vlodrop, The Netherlands: Maharishi Vedic University Press, 1989:2715-2729.

Davies, J. L., and C. N. Alexander. 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. Scientific Research on Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi Program: Collected Papers, (Vol. 4). Ed. R. A. Chalmers et al. Vlodrop, The Netherlands: Maharishi Vedic University Press, 1989:2549-2563.

Dillbeck, M. C. The Transcendental Meditation program and a compound probability model as predictors of crime rate change. Scientific Research on Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi Program: Collected Papers, (Vol. 4). Ed. R. A. Chalmers et al. Vlodrop, The Netherlands: Maharishi Vedic University Press, 1989:2496-2514.

Dillbeck, M. C., W. E. Larimore, and R. K. Wallace. A time series analysis of the effect of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field: Reduction of traffic fatalities in the United States. Scientific Research on Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi Program: Collected Papers, (Vol. 4). Ed. R. A. Chalmers et al. Vlodrop, The Netherlands: Maharishi Vedic University Press, 1989:2589-2599.

Hatchard, G. Influence of the Transcendental Meditation program on crime rate in suburban Cleveland. Scientific Research on Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi Program: Collected Papers, (Vol. 2). Ed. R. A. Chalmers et al. Vlodrop, The Netherlands: Maharishi Vedic University Press, 1989:1199-1204.

Landrith III, G. S., and M. C. Dillbeck. The growth of coherence in society through the Maharishi Effect: Reduced rates of suicides and auto accidents. Scientific Research on Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi Program: Collected Papers, (Vol. 4). Ed. R. A. Chalmers et al. Vlodrop, The Netherlands: Maharishi Vedic University Press, 1989:2479-2486.

Lanford, A. G. Reduction in homicide in Washington, D. C. through the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field, 1980-83: A time series analysis. Scientific Research on Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi Program: Collected Papers, (Vol. 4). Ed. R. A. Chalmers et al. Vlodrop, The Netherlands: Maharishi Vedic University Press, 1989:2600-2608.

Nader, T. M., C. N. Alexander, and J. L. Davies. The Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field and reduction of armed conflict: A comparative, longitudinal study of Lebanese villages. Scientific Research on Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi Program: Collected Papers, (Vol. 4). Ed. R. A. Chalmers et al. Vlodrop, The Netherlands: Maharishi Vedic University Press, 1989:2623-2634.

Orme-Johnson, D. W., K. L. Cavanaugh, C. N. Alexander, P. Gelderloos, M. C. Dillbeck, A. G. Lanford, et al. The influence of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field on world events and global social indicators: The effects of the Taste of Utopia Assembly. Scientific Research on Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi Program: Collected Papers, (Vol. 4). Ed. R. A. Chalmers et al. Vlodrop, The Netherlands: Maharishi Vedic University Press, 1989:2730-2762.

Orme-Johnson, D. W., M. C. Dillbeck, J. G. Bousquet, and C. N. Alexander. An experimental analysis of the application of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field in major world trouble spots: Increased harmony in international affairs. Scientific Research on Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi Program: Collected Papers, (Vol. 4). Ed. R. A. Chalmers et al. Vlodrop, The Netherlands: Maharishi Vedic University Press, 1989:2532-2548.

Cavanaugh, K. L. Maharishi’s Vedic Science and Technology: Promoting economic development and world peace.” Modern Science and Vedic Science 1992; 5(1-2):172-181.

Dillbeck, M. C., & Cavanaugh, K. L. (2016). Societal violence and collective consciousness: Reduction of U.S. homicide and urban violent crime rates. SAGE Open, 6(1), 1-16.

Papers on Physiological Effects

Orme-Johnson, D. W., M. C. Dillbeck, R. K. Wallace, G. S. Landrith. Intersubject EEG coherence: Is consciousness a field? International Journal of Neuroscience 1982; 16:203-209.

Pugh, N. D., K. G. Walton, and K. L. Cavanaugh. Can time series analysis of serotonin turnover test the theory that consciousness is a field? Society of Neuroscience Abstracts 1988; 14:372.

Travis, F. T., and D. W. Orme-Johnson. Field model of consciousness: EEG coherence changes as indicators of field effects. International Journal of Neuroscience 1989; 49:203-211.

Walton, K. G., K. L. Cavanaugh, and N. D. Pugh. Effect of group practice of the Transcendental Meditation program on biochemical indicators of stress in non-meditators: A prospective time series study. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality 2005;17(1):339-376.

Review Papers and Critiques

Orme-Johnson, D. W., and M. C. Dillbeck. Statement of David Orme-Johnson. Proposals to establish a U.S. Academy of Peace: Proceedings of the hearing before the Subcommittees on International Security and Scientific Affairs and on International Operations of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education of the Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives, Ninety-Seventh Congress, Second Session, on bills H.R. 5088 and H.R. 6182, 21 July 1982,. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1982:241-250.

Orme-Johnson, D. W., and M. C. Dillbeck. Maharishi’s program to create world peace: Theory and research. Modern Science and Vedic Science 1987; 1:206-259.

Duval R. TM or not TM? Journal of Conflict Resolution 1988; 32(4):813-817.

Russett, B. Editor’s comment. Journal of Conflict Resolution 1988; 32(4):773-775.

Edwards, D. V. On consciousness-centered social conflict theory: The case of the Maharishi technology of the unified field. American Psychological Association; 1990; Boston.

Schrodt, P. Methodological critique of ‘International peace project in the Middle East. Journal of Conflict Resolution 1990; 34:756-768.

Alexander, C. N. Peaceful body, peaceful mind, peaceful world. Modern Science and Vedic Science 1992; 5(1-2):150-163.

Hagelin, J. S. Achieving world peace through a new science and technology. Modern Science and Vedic Science 1992; 5(1-2):48-75.

Morris, B. Maharishi’s Vedic Science and Technology: The only way to create world peace. Modern Science and Vedic Science 1992; 5(1-2):199-297.

Orme-Johnson, D. W. Introduction to the proceedings of the conference on approaches to creating stable world peace. Modern Science and Vedic Science 1992; 5(1-2):1-30.

Orme-Johnson, D. W. Theory and research on conflict resolution through the Maharishi Effect. Modern Science and Vedic Science 1992; 5(1-2):76-98.

Orme-Johnson, D. W. Transcendental Meditation as an epidemiological approach to drug and alcohol abuse: Theory, research, and financial impact evaluation. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly 1994; 11:119-165.

Kleinschnitz, K. G. An Investigation into Field Effects of Consciousness from the Perspective of Maharishi’s Vedic Science and Physics, 1997, Maharishi University of Management, Dissertation Abstracts International UMI 9713470.

Leffler, D. R., K. Kleinschnitz, & K. G. Walton. An alternative to military violence and fear-based deterrence: Twenty years of research on the Maharishi Effect. Security and Political Risk Analysis (SAPRA) India, 1999. Available at: http://www.subcontinent.com/sapra/military/m_1999_05_01.html

Goodman, R. S., D. H. Goodman, and R. Wolfson. A consciousness-based approach to human security. Perspectives on Human Security. Ed. M. V. Naidu. Brandon, Manitoba, Canada: Canadian Peace Research and Education Association, 2001:189-210.

Brown, C.L. Overcoming barriers to use of promising research among elite Middle East policy groups. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality 2005:17(1):489-546.

Orme-Johnson, D. W. Preventing crime though the Maharishi Effect. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 2005; 36(1/2/3/4): 257-281.

Orme-Johnson, D. W. Section introduction: Collective Consciousness and Peace Studies. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality 2005; 36(1/2/3/4):277-283.

Orme-Johnson, D. W., & Fergusson, L. (2018). Global impact of the Maharishi Effect from 1974 to 2017: Theory and Research. Journal of Maharishi Vedic Research Institute, 8, 13-76.

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The majority of these papers are reprinted in the Scientific Research on Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programme: Collected Papers (Vols. 1-7), which contains 5,394 pages of original research. The Collected Papers are available from Maharishi University of Management Press, and can be ordered by clicking on the link below.

https://miupress.org/product-category/books/scientific-research/collected-papers/