ENHANCING THE INTUITIVE COPING STYLE THROUGH TRANS

ENHANCINGTHEINTUITIVECOPINGSTYLETHROUGHTRANSPERSONALCOURSEINSTRUCTION:APILOTSTUDYByDavidW.MillerBachelorofGeneralStudies,August31,1972UniversityofNebraskaMasterofBusinessAdministration,December18,1982UniversityofNebraskaMasterofScience,December19,1987,UniversityofNebraskaACulminatingProjectsubmittedtotheFacultyofAtlanticUniversityinPartialFulfillmentoftheRequirementsfortheDegreeofMASTEROFARTSinTRANSPERSONALSTUDIESATLANTICUNIVERSITYVirginiaBeach,VirginiaOCTOBER,2006Approvedby:________________________________MarkThurston,CommitteeChairperson________________________________AmyBetit,CommitteeMember_________________________H.A.Stokely,AdministratorABSTRACTENHANCINGTHEINTUITIVECOPINGSTYLETHROUGHTRANSPERSONALCOURSEINSTRUCTION:APILOTSTUDYDavidW.MillerAtlanticUniversityVirginiaBeach,VAManypeopleareunawareoftheirinherentintuitiveskillsfordealingwiththestressfulsituationsofmodernlife.Butothersareawareofthisintuitivetranscendentphenomenonintheformofhunchesandhavelearnedhowtosporadicallyuseit.Afewhavelearnedhowtotriggerthisintuitiveskillanduseittocopewithmodernlife.ThisculminatingprojectforAtlanticUniversityaddressesthequestionofwhatkindoftrainingexperiencesmightbeusedtohelppeopleadoptanoptimalcopingstyleformodernlife.Theassumptionwasthatthedeepeningofone’sownexperiencewithmeditationandintuitionwouldhaveapositiveimpact.AdaptingtheworkofDr.KennethPargamenton“spiritualcopingstyle,”anewinstrumentformeasuring“intuitivecopingstyle”wasdeveloped.Sixteencollegejuniorsandseniorsthenservedasvoluntaryparticipantsinatrainingprogramthatlastedforthreeweeks.Duringthosethreeweeks,theyreceivedtrainingintheprinciplesoftranspersonalpsychology,alongwithinstructionsandpracticewithasetofmeditationexercises.Althoughmeditationhasbeenverifiedasbeneficialthroughnumerousmeditationresearchprojects,itisstillarelativelyunknownsubjectmattertoyoungcollegestudents.Anotherquestionnaireinstrumentwasusedtomeasureeffectivenessinmeditation,aswellasadditionalfactorsrelatedtoattitudesandspiritualawareness.Athirdsourceofdataforthisprojectwasacontentanalysisofthenarrativejournalskeptbythestudentsduringthethree-weektrainingcourse.Resultsshowednoteworthychangesinhowthesestudentsperceivetheiruseofintuitionforcopingwithlifechallenges.2ACKNOWLEDGMENTSMysinceregratitudegoesouttoeachofmyteachersinTranspersonalStudiesatAtlanticUniversityforthecoursecurriculumstheycreatedthathasaddedsomuchtomylife.Iwisheveryonecouldtakethesecourses.SpecialthanksgotoDrs.MarkThurstonandAmyBetitwhopatientlyworkedwithmeonmyCulminatingProject.Tomywife,MaryAnn,Iofferaverysincere“thankyou”forthemorningopen-eyemeditationdialoguesandeditingofmypapers.Ourmorningdialogueshelpedclarifyareasinthecurriculumthatwereveryabstractinnature.SpecialappreciationisreservedforEdgarCayce,ThomasSugrue,andtheAssociationforResearchandEnlightenmentwhichprovidedthematerialwhichputmeonthispath.3TABLEOFCONTENTSAcknowledgments..................................................iiiChapter1:Introduction...............................................1Chapter2:MethodologyforThePilotProject.............................5Chapter3:ResultsandDiscussion.....................................10References........................................................20Appendix1:PreandPostSelf-QuestionnaireSurvey:DiscoverYourOwn......21IntuitiveCopingStyle,anadaptationbyMiller(1998)ofPargament’squestionnaire.Appendix2:TranspersonalAssessmentScale............................27Appendix3:CourseCurriculumReferences.............................33Appendix4:PreandPostNumericalDataforTranspersonalAssessmentScales.39Appendix5:TranspersonalAssessmentScalesDataAnalysis................41Appendix6:IntuitiveCopingSkillsQuestionnairePreandPost..............44DataAnalysisAppendix7:IntuitiveCopingSkillsSurveyT-TestAnalysis................47Appendix8:Students’JournalEntries..................................50Appendix9:CurriculumModelsUsedinPresentation.....................56Appendix10:OriginalScriptsforGuidedMeditationsUsed................63DuringtheCourseAppendix11:ConsentFormforAdultSubjects..........................1004Chapter1:IntroductionIbelievethatwearenothelplessvictims.Inthefaceofcrisis,weareguidedandgroundedbyasystemofhabits,values,relationships,personality,andbeliefsaboutGod.Foryears,psychologistDr.KennethI.Pargamenthasstudiedtheroleofspiritualityandreligioninpeoplegrapplingwithillness,deathsoflovedones,lossofjob,majorcrimes,terrorism,andwar.Tohelppeoplebetterunderstandtheirowncopingstyles,regardlessofdoctrine,hecreatedaself-measurequestionnaire.Forthisproject,thequestionnaireIhavecreatedonintuitive-basedwaysofcopingwithlifechallengesisanadaptationofhisquestionnaireonspiritualcopingstyle.Myprojectexplorestheextenttowhicharelativelyshortandintensecourse–deliveredface-to-facetoagroupthreehoursdailyoverthreeweeksonthemesoftranspersonalpsychology–canimpactaperson’sattitudestowarddealingwithlifeissues,andespeciallyhowheorshemightbegintoembracetherolesthatmeditationandintuitionhavetooffer.Myprojectisbasedonthefollowinghypothesis:Exposuretofundamentalconce