Who Lives in Utopia? A Brief Report on the Rajneeshpuram Research Project

Latkin, Carl A.; Hagan, Richard; Littman, Richard A.; Sundberg, Norman D.

doi:10.2307/3711684

Cited by 32 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Among the potential benefits of membership that are reported in studies are a decrease in drug use and relief from neurotic distress in members of the American Divine Light Mission and the Unification Church (Galanter & Buckley, 1978;Galanter, Buckley, Deutsch, Rabkin, & Rabkin, 1980;Galanter et al, 1979); escape from a depressive development, alcohol and drug abstinence, decrease of a sense of inferiority and increase in self-esteem among German sannyasins (Klosinski, 1985); an increase in life satisfaction in a study of Rajneeshpuram residents (Latkin et al, 1987); and security in current adult attachment, absence of depressive tendencies, positive outlook on the world and optimism for the future among members of several NRMs in Belgium (Buxant et al, 2007).…”

Section: Benefits Of Membershipmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Mental health and personality assessments of NRM members have hardly supported the popular notion that involvement with an NRM inevitably leads to harmful consequences and that rates of mental illness among members of NRMs are higher than in the general population. A number of studies indicate that NRM members as an aggregate do not show signs of mental disorders, even though single members may show severe symptoms (e.g., Di Fiorino et al 's, 2002, study of Hare Krishna devotees in Italy; Kuner's, 1983, research on German members of the Unification Church, Family of Love and Ananda Marga; Latkin, Hagan, Littman, & Sundberg's, 1987, study on Rajneeshpuram residents). 2 Moreover, it seems that many individuals benefit from membership in the chosen group (cf.…”

Section: Benefits Of Membershipmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Self-chosen involvement in new religious movements (NRMs): well-being and mental health from a longitudinal perspective

Namini

Murken

2009

Mental Health, Religion & Culture

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In spite of a cult debate that has lasted for some decades now, the controversy about the harmfulness of new religious movements (NRMs) continues. A core question remains whether current or past involvement with an NRM has an adverse effect on psychosocial adjustment. In this study, this question is investigated from a longitudinal perspective. First, an overview on previous research is given. Then findings from an empirical study on individuals who get involved with NRMs in Germany are reported. Life satisfaction, depression and anxiety are investigated over the course of three years for two groups: (a) ''stayers'': individuals who remained in the chosen NRM (n ¼ 51) and (b) ''leavers'': persons who left a Pentecostal parish during the course of the study (n ¼ 9). The results confirm findings from previous studies which indicate that joining an NRM is often preceded by some kind of (retrospectively reported) crisis and that well-being increases with involvement. Adaptation during involvement was comparable to that of comparison groups from the general population and remained relatively stable over time. Among several aspects of involvement related to health and well-being, religious sense of coherence and secure attachment to God were most often and most strongly correlated with the outcome measures. Surprisingly, the hypothesis of a crisis accompanying the exit from the Pentecostal parish was only partially supported. Overall, the study does not confirm the popular notion that membership in an NRM must be harmful. It calls for a sensitive handling of the topic.

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Section: Benefits Of Membershipmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Benefits Of Membershipmentioning

confidence: 97%

Self-chosen involvement in new religious movements (NRMs): well-being and mental health from a longitudinal perspective

Namini

Murken

2009

Mental Health, Religion & Culture

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“…We were the only scholars given permission to conduct surveys and systematic psychological research on the ranch. One ~ublished report (Latkin, Hagan, Littman, & Sundberg, 1987) described the demographic and sociopsychological characteristics of the Rajneeshees, or sannyasins, about midway in their stay in Oregon,…”

Section: Overview Of the Rajneeshpwlm Study And Administration Of Thementioning

confidence: 99%

Personality in a Religious Commune: CPIs in Rajneeshpuram

Sundberg

Latkin

Littman

et al. 1990

Journal of Personality Assessment

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“…Previously, researchers have found that NRM individuals reported having good social support, life satisfaction, and self-esteem, as well as less anxiety and depression, compared with control individuals from community groups (Buxant et al, 2007;Latkin et al, 1987;Ross, 1983). If NRM individuals demonstrate a selective attention to positive stimuli compared with individuals with psychotic disorders, it may be worth investigating whether attentional bias to positive stimuli may serve as a protective mechanism from developing a psychotic illness.…”

mentioning

confidence: 95%

Selective Attention to Threat Bias in Delusion-Prone Individuals

Lim

Gleeson²,

Jackson³

2011

Journal of Nervous &Amp; Mental Disease

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The study examined the selective attention to threat bias in delusion-prone individuals recruited from New Religious Movements (NRMs). Twenty-seven delusion-prone NRM individuals were compared with 25 individuals with psychotic disorders and 63 non-delusion-prone individuals on a Stroop task, together with psychotic and delusion proneness measures. NRM individuals showed significantly lower levels of selective attention to threat bias compared with individuals with psychotic disorders but not with non-delusion-prone individuals. Selective attention to threat bias was also not correlated with distress associated with delusional ideation. These findings may be specific to delusion-prone NRM individuals. The absence of the selective attention to threat bias may be related to levels of safety and security among members of NRMs.

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Who Lives in Utopia? A Brief Report on the Rajneeshpuram Research Project

Cited by 32 publications

References 8 publications

Self-chosen involvement in new religious movements (NRMs): well-being and mental health from a longitudinal perspective

Self-chosen involvement in new religious movements (NRMs): well-being and mental health from a longitudinal perspective

Personality in a Religious Commune: CPIs in Rajneeshpuram

Selective Attention to Threat Bias in Delusion-Prone Individuals

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