Meta Spirituality · Trial 2
Seven days, measured against a control group
One thousand and two people were randomly split. One group moved through the full seven-day program and the other waited. Across wellbeing, emotion, relationship satisfaction and self-efficacy the program group rose on every measure, and every gain was still there at follow-up.
PREREGISTRATION
Headline results
What changed across seven days
+39%
Wellbeing (WHO-5)
day-to-day flourishing
day-to-day flourishing
−36%
Negative emotions (PANAS)
distress, anxiety, anger
Controlled d = 0.93
+21%
Relationship satisfaction (RAS)
closeness and satisfaction with a partner
Controlled d = 0.78
Full results
Every outcome, every timepoint
Group means at each measurement. EG is the intervention group and CG the control group. The controlled effect size adjusts for baseline, and every p-value reflects the pre-registered between-group comparison.
Outcome | Description | Group | Before | After | Follow-up | Controlled d | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wellbeing (WHO-5) | day-to-day flourishing | EG | 48.2 | 67.1 | 69.0 | 0.88 | p < 10^−16 |
CG | 51.1 | 53.3 | 54.2 | ||||
Negative emotions (PANAS) | distress, anxiety, anger | EG | 25.5 | 16.3 | 16.4 | 0.93 | p < 10^−16 |
CG | 24.1 | 22.7 | 22.4 | ||||
Relationship satisfaction (RAS) | closeness and satisfaction with a partner | EG | 20.8 | 25.3 | 25.6 | 0.78 | p < 10^−16 |
CG | 21.5 | 21.9 | 21.9 | ||||
Positive emotions (PANAS) | energy, enthusiasm, joy | EG | 29.2 | 36.3 | 36.8 | 0.85 | p < 10^−16 |
CG | 30.3 | 30.9 | 31.1 | ||||
Self-efficacy (GSE) | belief you can handle life | EG | 27.6 | 32.0 | 32.5 | 0.72 | p < 10^−16 |
CG | 28.4 | 28.5 | 28.7 |
ITEM BY ITEM
Every question, ranked by how much it moved.
Each scale is built from individual questions. Below is the program group’s average change from before to after, which is the texture beneath the headline numbers.
How many people moved
Nearly nine in ten improved. Among those who waited, roughly half drifted.
Averages hide the individual. Improved means any change in the beneficial direction, and reliable change means a shift large enough to exceed measurement error, which is the stricter standard used in clinical work.
Outcome | Improved | Reliably changed | Control improved | Control reliable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Negative emotions | 88% | 39% | 56% | 7% |
Relationship satisfaction | 87% | 39% | 50% | 4% |
Wellbeing | 85% | 40% | 50% | 6% |
Positive emotions | 84% | 33% | 51% | 5% |
Self-efficacy | 79% | 31% | 45% | 3% |
Reliable Change Index computed at a threshold of 1.96 with an assumed test-retest reliability of .80. The gap between the two reliable-change columns is the clearest single indicator that the program, and not time or expectation, produced the change.
The largest-moving question in the study was whether people woke up rested
How to read this
Consistent, durable gains across every domain measured
All five outcomes improved in the predicted direction and stayed improved at follow-up, and the wellbeing questions had risen further by the time of the third measurement. The control group drifted upward slightly on its own, which is why the baseline-adjusted effect sizes of roughly 0.7 to 0.9 are lower than the raw change percentages suggest, and that is the expected and honest pattern for a waitlist design. By any standard in the field, effects of this size are large.
Method note.
Participants were randomly assigned to the seven-day program or to a waitlist control, with 501 people in each arm, and were assessed before, immediately after, and at follow-up. The trial was pre-registered before data collection began, and the preregistration is published at doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/TM58E. Effect sizes are Cohen’s d, where the controlled d is the ANCOVA between-group estimate adjusting for baseline, and within-group percentages describe the program group’s change from before to after. RAS here is the Relationship Assessment Scale, which measures relationship satisfaction, and not the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Individual results vary, and a group result is never a promise of an individual outcome.
Source.
Verkoeyen 2026, Meta Spirituality Trial 2, N = 1,002, randomized and pre-registered.
A paradigm for ending suffering at the level of identity, tested in four randomized controlled trials.
Meta Spirituality Institute LLC · USA
Programs, books and facilitator certification.
Meta Spirituality Foundation Inc. · Nonprofit
Research, trials and public programs.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Meta Spirituality programs, books and protocols are educational and are not medical care, psychotherapy or a substitute for either. They are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any condition. If you are in crisis or under the care of a clinician, please speak with a qualified professional before making changes to your treatment.
© 2026 Meta Spirituality Institute LLC. Meta Spirituality® and the Meta Self® are registered trademarks. All rights reserved.
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RESEARCH & RESULTS
The trials are carried out by Meta Spirituality Foundation Inc., the nonprofit, and reported in full in the linked preprints. Meta Spirituality Institute LLC delivers the paid programs and the facilitator certification. Individual results vary, and outcomes reported for a group are not a promise of an outcome for any one person.
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