Markdown lines 1274–1646 · Part 3 of 5
• I am satisfied with my life
• So far I have gotten the important things in my life
• In most ways, my life is close to ideal
3. Job satisfaction
• Most days I am enthusiastic about my work
• I like my job better than the average worker does
• I find real enjoyment in my work
• I am fairly well satisfied with my present job
4. Career Performance
• At work I am viewed by my supervisor as an exceptional performer
• Compared to other people my age and who are involved in the same occupation or
types of work I do, I feel that I am very successful
• The people I work with would say that I am very successful
• I feel that my career is progressing very well compared with my peers
Three items from the survey were eliminated either because they cross-load on 2 different
factors or have a loading less than .05.
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Scale scores were generated averaging the responses, which loaded highest on
each factor. Each subscale demonstrated high internal reliability (note: alphas greater
than 0.7 indicate reliable measures):
1. Personal efficacy – alpha = 0.95
2. Life satisfaction – alpha = 0.9
3. Job satisfaction – alpha = 0.91
4. Career performance – alpha = 0.83
Zero order correlations with the demographic and personality typology (KBTS) variables
were computed with the 4 factors. Table 2 in the appendix shows the correlations in
addition to the total sample available for each variable, the means, and the standard
deviations. Regression analysis determined the effect of attendance in multiple TMI
programs on the derived factors controlling for demographic and personality typology
variables. Since the 4 factors highly correlated with each other, multivariate regression
(which controls for the factors’ common variance) was used. Two models were
developed due to the fact that the KBTS was optional and there were significant
differences between participants who completed these questions in the survey and those
who did not. Model 1 (Table 3 in the appendix) excludes personality data and Model 2
(Table 4 in the appendix) includes it.
Overall, the results suggest that individuals who have attended multiple TMI
programs experience statistically greater personal efficacy and life satisfaction than those
who only attend the Gateway program. Although increased attendance in TMI programs
appears to be also associated with greater job satisfaction and career performance (see
Table 3 in the appendix), these relationships become non-significant and marginally
significant when personality typology is included in the model (see Table 4 in the
appendix). Since extraversion highly relates with all four factors (see Table 4 in the
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appendix) and multiple session participants tend to be higher in extraversion, the
relationship between TMI attendance and job satisfaction and career performance is not
clear.
It is interesting to note that on every one of the 34 items loaded on one of the 4
factors, the percentage of those indicating strongly agree was higher for those having
attended 3 or more programs. To get into the details a bit more, I looked at those items
loaded on personal efficacy and have listed those with the highest percentage difference
between the two groups and those with the lowest percentage difference (see table below).
To offer an observation, I would suggest that the majority of items with the highest
percentage difference are closely aligned with the objectives of TMI programs whereas
the items with the lowest percentage difference are not (to my knowledge) stated
objectives of TMI’s educational mission. Therefore the areas with greatest evidence of
long-term benefits are consistent with what would be expected.
The 8 items with the highest difference are:
Percentage of Percentage of
Multiple Program Gateway Only
Question Respondents Respondents Difference
indicating Strongly indicating Strongly
Agree Agree
“I have a more
expansive vision of
how the parts of my 61.30 25.29 36.01
life relate to a whole.”
“I am more actively
involved in my own 62.45 30.65 31.80
personal
development.”
“I take actions that are
more true to my sense 45.21 18.77 26.44
of self.”
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“I have a clearer sense
of purpose in my life.” 46.74 20.31 26.43
“I am less anxious
about my future.” 44.06 18.77 25.29
“I am more clear about
what is important to 51.34 27.20 24.14
me.”
“I have been able to
resolve an important
issue or challenge in 32.57 11.88 20.69
my life.”
“I act on my values
more consistently.” 34.10 14.18 19.92
The 7 items with the lowest difference are:
Percentage of Percentage of
Multiple Program Gateway Only
Question Respondents Respondents Difference
indicating Strongly indicating Strongly
Agree Agree
“I have a more open
communication with 18.01 8.43 9.58
my family.”
“I am more productive
at work.” 14.18 4.60 9.58
“I am more able to
listen non-defensively 21.07 11.11 9.96
to criticism.”
“I have a clear sense
of further development 40.23 29.50 10.73
I need to accomplish.”
“I am more successful
in my career.” 17.97 6.56 11.41
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“I have more balance
among my work, my
family, and my 22.61 11.11 11.50
community.”
“I have developed new
friends.” 20.31 8.43 11.88
While those attending multiple programs claim to more strongly agree with the
clarity of their sense of purpose and other quality of life dimensions, could it be merely a
function of degree of agreement? Maybe those who have only attended the Gateway
program are more likely to agree (rather than strongly agree) with these questions relative
to those attending multiple programs? In fact it is the other way around; though the
difference is small (the average percentage of agree response to each of the items under
the factors of self-efficacy and life satisfaction was 40.84 of the Gateway Only
Respondents and 42.14 of the Multiple Program Respondents). It is worth noting that
those who have attended multiple programs are more likely than those who have only
attended Gateway to both agree and strongly agree with the following items:
1. “I am a more effective decision maker.”
2. “I surface issues that others are reluctant to talk about.”
3. “I have a clear sense of further development I need to accomplish.”
4. “I have more balance among my work, my family, and my community.”
5. “I am more able to listen non-defensively to criticism.”
6. “I am more successful in my career.”
7. “I have deepened my relationship with existing friends.”
8. “I have a more open communication with my family.”
9. “I am more productive at work.”
10. “I have developed new friends.”
11. “I have been able to resolve an important issue or challenge in my life.”
12. “I am more confident in my interaction with others.”
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For the 12 items loaded on life satisfaction, job satisfaction, and career
performance, the differences are not as dramatic between the 2 groups but the same
trend exists.
The 5 questions with the highest difference are:
Percentage of Percentage of
Multiple Program Gateway Only
Question Respondents Respondents Difference
indicating Strongly indicating Strongly
Agree Agree
“So far I have gotten
the important things in 34.48 20.31 14.17
my life.”
“The conditions of my
life are excellent.” 33.72 20.69 13.03
“I am satisfied with
my life.” 32.18 19.54 12.64
“I like my job better
than the average 36.76 25.79 10.97
worker does.”
“I find real enjoyment
in my work.” 30.31 20.40 9.91
The 4 questions with the lowest difference are:
Percentage of Percentage of
Multiple Program Gateway Only
Question Respondents Respondents Difference
indicating Strongly indicating Strongly
Agree Agree
“At work I am viewed
by my supervisor as an
exceptional 29.84 25.00 4.84
performer.”
“I feel that my career
is progressing very
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well compared with 20.00 14.46 5.54
my peers.”
“Most days I am
enthusiastic about my 23.92 15.75 8.17
work.”
“The people I work
with would say that I
am very successful.” 30.68 22.27 8.41
Across all 12 items the multiple program group averaged a higher percentage of agree
responses than those from the Gateway only group. Again, the difference is small
(40.89% of Gateway respondents on average agreed with these 12 items and 41.38% of
multiple program respondents on average agreed). Those who have attended multiple
programs are more likely than those who have only attended Gateway to both agree and
strongly agree with the following questions:
1. “The conditions of my life are excellent.”
2. “At work, I am viewed by my supervisor as an exceptional performer.”
3. “Most days I am enthusiastic about my work.”
4. “Compared to other people my age and who are involved in the same occupation or
types of work I do, I feel that I am very successful.”
5. “The people I work with would say that I am very successful.”
6. “I find real enjoyment in my work.”
7. “I feel that my career is progressing very well compared with my peers.”
8. “In most ways my life is close to ideal.”
Section 4 – Qualitative Analysis and Conclusions
In addition to scaled items, survey respondents were given the opportunity to
address four open-ended items:
• List 3-5 important events in your life, positive or negative, after your first
program at TMI.
• How would you describe TMI to someone who may be interested in attending
for the first time?
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• How would you describe the kind of person who would get the most out of
attending the Gateway Voyage program?
• What is most memorable in your experience at TMI?
In the interest of addressing the question of effects from long-term participation in TMI
programs, I have chosen to focus my analysis on the last item. It isn’t to say the other
items will not bear important fruit, but rather it is an area for future analysis.
For the item addressing the most memorable experience at TMI, I created 4
categories of comments to organize the different kinds of responses:
• Mystical Experience – reference to experiences of metanormal functioning
• Personal Learning and Development – reference to lessons learned, insights
generated, personal growth/healing
• Belonging – reference to the value of or connection to others in the program
• Gestalt – reference to the intangibles or indivisibility of the unique features of
TMI
There were no restrictions in assignment of comments to categories, and therefore,
individual responses could be represented in all 4 categories. The fact that a majority of
comments were represented in more that one category is indicative of the length of
responses.
Category Gateway Only Multiple Programs
Mystical Experience 107 135
Personal Learning &
Development 126 116
Belonging 100 96
Gestalt 108 62
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Sample of Respondent Comments by Category (in some cases these are merely excerpts)
1. Mystical Experience
Gateway Only:
Finding there was a ghost in my room (seriously!)
Meeting with a guide of mine
Hearing the ground drink the rain that fell
Being shown an image of my Higher Self by my deceased mother
Seeing huge statues carved out of milk, with fine detail, floating in one area of far
space and knowing they were The Dreamers.
Contact with deceased parents and others
Awakening a past life
Having an implant removed by these beings I would never have imagined – and
afterwards being pain-free for the first time in a long time
The walk in the outdoors with trees, stones, animals, etc. “talking” to me
Remembering how I went to/was the stars as I fell asleep as a child
Connecting to other participant and facilitators through telepathy
Multiple Programs:
A non-physical meeting with my family. Very healing.
Meeting my grandmother for the first time and realizing that she is available to
help me.
In the closing circle we “fell” into a spontaneous silent meditation and
atmospheric Presence moved into the room that was sooooo powerful, tangible,
and loving . . . no one said a word or stirred for over two hours.