Transcendental Meditation, Self/Actualization, and Global Personality

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), as a measure of global personality characteristics, and the Tennessee Self Concept Scale (TSC), as a measure of self-actualization, were administered to volunteers in an experimental group consisting of recovering alcoholics and of individuals with general emotional problems participating in a three-month program of Transcendental Meditation, and to a control group from the same population. In addition a TSC for each S was completed by a "significant other" (OTSC) designated by the S. Experimental and control groups were not significantly different on any of the pretest measures, and at posttesting no significant differences between the two groups were found. Reasons for failing to find a significant change in global personality or self-actualization due to the practice of Transcendental Meditation, and cautions in conducting this type of research, were discussed.