Warming U.S.-Soviet Relations During the Cold War as Measured by U.S. Presidential Statements: Impact of the Group Practice of the Transcendental Meditation-Sidhi Program

An analysis of 478 public statements by U.S. President Ronald Reagan about the U.S.S.R. from 1984 to 1987 found that larger groups practicing the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program were associated with more positive and harmonious presidential statements. Time-series analyses showed a significant relationship between the number of participants and weekly average ratings of the statements at lags of 3, 5, and 8 weeks, with positive total impacts when participation exceeded the second and third quartiles. Weekly rating totals also showed significant positive impacts at lags of 0 and 3 weeks. The results support a causal interpretation, suggesting that larger group practice was linked to improved U.S.-Soviet relations as reflected in presidential rhetoric.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Currently, 25 empirical articles published in independent peer-reviewed journals or in scholarly conference proceedings have reported that the collective, or group, practice of the Transcendental Meditation and TM- Sidhi program enhances the societal quality of life and reduces violence, conflict, and war. The present study retrospectively investigated the impact of this program on U.S.-Soviet relations during the Cold War era, as reflected in public statements of U.S. President Ronald Regan concerning the U.S.S.R. Such statements are regarded as one of the most sensitive and relevant indicators of superpower relations. All 478 pertinent statements published in the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents from January 1984 to December 1987 were content-analysed by two raters on a peace/war rating scale. Time series, impact-assessment analyses established that the quartile distributions of the number of participants in the group practice of the Transcendental Meditation-Sidhi program had a significant relationship with the weekly average ratings of the presidential statements at lags 3, 5, and 8 (p = .0005), with positive total impacts (steady state gain) beyond the second and third quartiles. Weekly ratings totals showed significant impacts at lags 0 and 3 weeks (p = .0018), with a positive steady state gain when the number of participants was above the second or third quartiles. Statistical assumptions of the analyses were satisfied and competing alternative explanations could not plausibly account for the findings. The results of the analyses also supported a causal interpretation. The findings of the current study thus lend support to the hypothesis that the U.S. president’s statements about the U.S.S.R. would be significantly more positive and harmonious during and shortly following weeks when the number of group participants was larger.