Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 11, No. 1, 1994, Page 12
Table 2. Terms Rated Beneficial and Harmful by Critics Versus Experts: Means,
Standard Deviations, and Percentages
Critics (n=58) Experts (n=85)
X SD %X SD %
Terms Rated Harmful and Very Harmful by Critics
Scientology 1.11 0.31 100** 2.14 1.15 65
Dianetics 1.30 0.85 93** 2.18 1.20 60
Cult 1.41 0.74 91** 2.14 1.06 58
CARP 1.55 0.82 80** 2.93 0.40 06
est 1.57 0.82 90** 2.81 1.01 30
Ramtha 1.65 0.89 76** 2.62 0.89 37
CUT 1.67 0.99 72** 2.94 0.39 05
Church Universal &Trium-
phant**
1.68 0.90 79** 2.71 0.75 25
Channeling 1.68 0.81 86** 3.06 1.15 33
Occult 1.70 0.92 87** 2.95 1.18 26
Lifespring 1.71 0.91 84** 3.00 0.88 13
Levitation 1.72 0.69 87** 3.09 0.89 15
The Forum 1.73 0.81 78** 3.14 0.79 10
Hunger Project 1.87 1.01 77** 3.72 1.03 06
Fundamentalism*** 1.91 0.82 78 1.97 0.97 71
TM 1.91 1.01 79** 3.74 1.11 11
Terms Rated Beneficial by Critics
CAN 4.48 0.89 85** 2.95 0.48 03
Psychology 4.33 0.55 93* 4.01 0.82 79
Neurology 4.09 0.87 76* 3.78 0.91 55
Terms Rated Beneficial by Experts
Natural healing 2.49 0.90 10** 4.51 0.78 90
Consciousness 3.94 0.86 60** 4.39 0.87 84
Mother Earth 3.34 0.92 28** 4.34 1.06 84
Chakras 2.63 0.70 06** 4.22 1.03 79
Affirmation 2.89 0.61 17** 4.16 0.82 77
Holistic massage 3.11 0.80 26** 4.12 0.92 75
Human resource devel-
opment
3.27 0.58 24** 4.05 0.88 71
*p .05 **p .01
Note: Table includes only the means of those terms rated from 1.00 to 1.99 (harmful) and
from 4.00 to 5.00 (beneficial) on a five-point Likert scale. Percentages represent total of
harmful and very harmful or beneficial and very beneficial ratings. Ns vary slightly from term
to term.
**CUT and Church Universal and Triumphant, which refer to the same religious group, were presented separately to
check reliability.
***Fundamentalism was the only term rated harmful by the Experts.
Table 2. Terms Rated Beneficial and Harmful by Critics Versus Experts: Means,
Standard Deviations, and Percentages
Critics (n=58) Experts (n=85)
X SD %X SD %
Terms Rated Harmful and Very Harmful by Critics
Scientology 1.11 0.31 100** 2.14 1.15 65
Dianetics 1.30 0.85 93** 2.18 1.20 60
Cult 1.41 0.74 91** 2.14 1.06 58
CARP 1.55 0.82 80** 2.93 0.40 06
est 1.57 0.82 90** 2.81 1.01 30
Ramtha 1.65 0.89 76** 2.62 0.89 37
CUT 1.67 0.99 72** 2.94 0.39 05
Church Universal &Trium-
phant**
1.68 0.90 79** 2.71 0.75 25
Channeling 1.68 0.81 86** 3.06 1.15 33
Occult 1.70 0.92 87** 2.95 1.18 26
Lifespring 1.71 0.91 84** 3.00 0.88 13
Levitation 1.72 0.69 87** 3.09 0.89 15
The Forum 1.73 0.81 78** 3.14 0.79 10
Hunger Project 1.87 1.01 77** 3.72 1.03 06
Fundamentalism*** 1.91 0.82 78 1.97 0.97 71
TM 1.91 1.01 79** 3.74 1.11 11
Terms Rated Beneficial by Critics
CAN 4.48 0.89 85** 2.95 0.48 03
Psychology 4.33 0.55 93* 4.01 0.82 79
Neurology 4.09 0.87 76* 3.78 0.91 55
Terms Rated Beneficial by Experts
Natural healing 2.49 0.90 10** 4.51 0.78 90
Consciousness 3.94 0.86 60** 4.39 0.87 84
Mother Earth 3.34 0.92 28** 4.34 1.06 84
Chakras 2.63 0.70 06** 4.22 1.03 79
Affirmation 2.89 0.61 17** 4.16 0.82 77
Holistic massage 3.11 0.80 26** 4.12 0.92 75
Human resource devel-
opment
3.27 0.58 24** 4.05 0.88 71
*p .05 **p .01
Note: Table includes only the means of those terms rated from 1.00 to 1.99 (harmful) and
from 4.00 to 5.00 (beneficial) on a five-point Likert scale. Percentages represent total of
harmful and very harmful or beneficial and very beneficial ratings. Ns vary slightly from term
to term.
**CUT and Church Universal and Triumphant, which refer to the same religious group, were presented separately to
check reliability.
***Fundamentalism was the only term rated harmful by the Experts.
