Meta Spirituality · Trial 4
Two weeks online, and the identity moved furthest of all.
One thousand two hundred and four people were randomly assigned either to the two-week online retreat or to a waitlist, with the analysis plan filed publicly on OSF before any data existed. The retreat group shifted on every measure, six of the seven outcomes cleared an effect size of 1.0, and more than two thirds reached a complete mystical experience without taking anything.
PREREGISTRATION
doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/HXRYW
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
The Meta Self (MSS) | living from the larger self | EG | 54.7 | 66.7 |
CG | 54.0 | 52.5 | ||
Mastery (Pearlin) | sense of control over your life | EG | 19.5 | 23.1 |
CG | 19.7 | 19.3 | ||
Mystical experience (MEQ-4) | moments of unity and transcendence | EG | 2.4 | 3.5 |
CG | 2.4 | 2.2 | ||
Wellbeing (WHO-5) | day-to-day flourishing | EG | 51.5 | 72.0 |
CG | 51.7 | 49.9 | ||
Positive emotions (PANAS) | energy, enthusiasm, joy | EG | 29.9 | 38.6 |
CG | 30.0 | 28.9 | ||
Self-efficacy (GSE) | belief you can handle life | EG | 27.6 | 33.4 |
CG | 27.3 | 26.9 | ||
Negative emotions (PANAS) | distress, anxiety, anger | EG | 22.6 | 14.6 |
CG | 22.6 | 22.4 |
ITEM BY ITEM
Every question, ranked by how much it moved.
Each scale is built from individual questions, and these are the retreat group’s average changes from before to after. The identity items are shown first because they moved furthest
Headline results
What changed over two weeks
+40%
Wellbeing (WHO-5)
day-to-day flourishing
Controlled d = 1.21
+22%
The Meta Self (MSS)
living from the larger self
Controlled d = 1.47, the largest effect in the trial
68%
Complete mystical experience
against 21% of the control group
Reached without any substance
The mystical experience measure
Two in three reached the threshold. In the control group, one in five
A complete mystical experience is a defined criterion rather than a description, and it is the same benchmark used in the Johns Hopkins psilocybin research. Participants met it here after two weeks online, with no substance involved.
Group | Reached the criterion | Unity and oneness | Transcendence of time and space |
|---|---|---|---|
Retreat | 68% | +57% | +55% |
Control | 21% | — | — |
Item percentages describe the retreat group’s change from before to after on the MEQ-4. The criterion for a complete mystical experience follows the standard scoring used in the psilocybin literature.
Six of seven outcomes above d = 1.0. Nothing was taken.
How to read this
Psychedelic-range effects, and the identity measure moved furthest.
The Meta Self Scale produced the largest effect in the trial at d = 1.47, which matters because it is the measure closest to what the paradigm claims to change. Expressed as a position on the scale rather than as a percentage, participants moved from 61% to 79% of the range available, while the control group drifted slightly downward. Six of the seven outcomes cleared d = 1.0, the range reported for high-dose psychedelic therapy, and the seventh sat at 1.01.
Method note.
Participants were randomly assigned to the two-week online retreat or to a waitlist control, with the analysis plan filed publicly on OSF before data collection at doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/HXRYW. Analyses are based on the 1,007 participants who completed both the before and after assessments, with attrition close to 16% in each arm. 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 retreat group’s change from before to after. Results are from the current trial and are preliminary pending final data lock. Individual results vary, and a group result is never a promise of an individual outcome.
Source.
Verkoeyen 2026, Meta Spirituality Trial 4, N = 1,204 randomized, randomized and pre-registered on OSF.