THE EFFECT OF CENTERING TECHNIQUES ON SELF-ESTEEM, OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE, AND ANXIETY.

Abstract

This experiment investigated the effect of centering techniques of college students. These techniques include exercises in the areas of feelings and communication, dreams, meditation, relaxation, intuition, and transpersonal values. The dependent variables considered were anxiety, self-esteem, and openness to experience. Two control groups of equal size were included. A treatment control group, derived from the same college setting, focused on Transactional Analysis. The second control group consisted of elementary psychology students who volunteered to take the pre- and posttests. The nine sessions for both the centering and personality laboratory control groups were held once a week for two hours. Centering subjects were also assessed as to their level of involvement in the exercises. Analysis of covariance data were not significant, though two trends were evident. Post hoc comparisons yielded significant differences (p < .05) in these areas. The centering group scored higher on the openness scale 4, constructive use of fantasy and dreams, as compared to the testing-only control group. The treatment control group manifested significantly higher self-esteem than the centering group, but not the testing-only control group. These results are confusing, as are the negative correlations found between depth of involvement and initial openness scores for the centering group. These findings were not only significant but also in contradiction to the results of previous meditation research. A trend in the expected direction was found for the correlation between anxiety (posttest) and depth of involvement, indicating a negative relationship. The results of earlier research which revealed a positive relationship between openness and anxiety were corroborated.