The most commonly reported benefits include an increase in the ability to love (78 percent), to handle hostility (69 percent), to communicate (69 percent), and to understand self and others (88 percent); other changes included improved interpersonal relations (72 percent), decreased anxiety (66 percent), increased self-esteem (71 percent), and a new way of looking at the world (83 percent). Of particular interest is a high correlation of 0.91 between “greater awareness of a higher power, or ultimate reality” and “claimed permanent benefit.
