Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 14, No. 1, 1997, page 82
 I am comfortable having a man make decisions for me.
 Men have more power in the group/congregation.
Symptoms Scale
Participants also answered 33 questions about their relative emotional distress while in the
group and their present levels of distress after having left the group. Questions addressed
such symptoms as anxiety, substance abuse, domestic violence, job problems, depression,
sleep problems, sexual dysfunction, low-self esteem, and compulsions, as well as whether
they had difficulty expressing emotions, lacked trust in others, and felt angry, stupid,
envious. Their experiences of these problems were rated as follows: not at all (0),
occasionally (1), sometimes (2), quite a bit (3), or all the time (4).
Results
Statistical tests were utilized to compare the differences between former Witnesses‟ scores
and the comparison group‟s scores on the Control Scale between the former Witnesses‟
retrospective and current scores on the Patriarchal Scale and between the former
Witnesses‟ retrospective and current scores on the Symptoms Scale. Because none of the
psychometric properties of these scales are known, Cronbach‟s alpha, a measure of internal
consistency (reliability), was calculated when appropriate. The reliability of a scale is
important because it determines the maximum validity of a scale. If a scale is not reliable, it
cannot be valid.
Control Scale
The 22 Control Scale items used an ordinal rating scale (agree, somewhat agree, or
disagree). Because Cronbach‟s alpha requires interval data, it was not appropriate for this
scale. A Mann-Whitney U test compared the ex-Witnesses‟ (n=20) answers to those of the
comparison group (n=16). The former Witnesses scored significantly lower (indicating
greater group control): U=0, z=5.13, p.001. In fact, there was no overlap between the
two groups‟ scores. The women from mainstream religious groups produced scores ranging
from 45 through 66, with a median of 59. Women who had been WTS members produced
scores ranging from 22 through 27, with a median of 23. Former Witnesses reported that
WTS is a high-control group, whereas members of mainstream groups did not report such
about their churches.
Patriarchal/Egalitarian Scale
Several participants gave the answer “not applicable” (NA) on some of the P/E Scale items.
This happened, for example, when single women were asked about their husbands. Because
a response of zero would indicate less than 1 (never) on the rating scale, all NA responses
were replaced with the group mean for that item. To assess reliability, Cronbach‟s alpha was
calculated twice, once for respondents‟ current scores, and once for their retrospective
scores on the P/E Scale. This scale demonstrated moderate reliability for participants‟
retrospective scores (alpha=.74), and somewhat higher reliability for their current scores
(alpha=.85). A paired samples t test was utilized to compare the former Witnesses‟ current
scores on the P/E scale with their retrospective scores. As can be seen in Figure 1, the
women‟s current attitudes were significantly more egalitarian and less patriarchal than were
their attitudes while members of WTS: t (19)=8.49, p.001.

Symptoms Scale
The Symptoms Scale demonstrated high internal consistency for both the respondents‟
retrospective reports (alpha=.91) and their current reports (alpha=.93). The retrospective
scores were significantly higher than the current scores: t (19)=11.34, p .001. Next, a set
of 33 paired samples t tests were run to compare specific symptoms reported currently and
retrospectively. After a Holm (1979) multiple test procedure to hold the setwise probability
of a Type I error at .05, all t tests significant below p=.004 were interpretable. Table 2
(below) gives the results of these tests. All significant tests indicated that the specific
problem was worse during membership in WTS.
Discussion
The survey had several statistically significant results. The former members rated WTS as a
high-control group, whereas the comparison group did not describe their mainstream
churches as high-control groups. The former members reported their attitudes had become
significantly more egalitarian (less patriarchal), and reported less symptoms overall after
leaving the group. The respondents indicated that having left WTS, they experienced the
following symptoms less frequently: worthlessness, low self-esteem, difficulty expressing
emotions, feeling stupid, feeling like a failure, anxiety, anhedonia, uncertainty of
preferences, difficulty concentrating, depression, difficulty with friendships, uncertainty, lack
of trust, hopelessness, lack of self-trust, self-blame, phobias, envy, sleep problems,
domestic violence, and isolation.
These results have some limitations, however. The scales used in the survey were not
validated therefore, it is only presumed that they accurately measure the constructs they
were designed to measure. There are a variety of possible reasons that these scales may
not be valid, such as participants misinterpreting some of the items. Respondents were
asked to recall how they would have answered in the past. On average, participants recalled
how they felt 6.5 years earlier. Human memory is not always accurate therefore, these
retrospective reports may not be accurate. Finally, the purpose of the survey was apparent.
Participants could have skewed their answers to support the study‟s hypotheses, which
could have exaggerated or driven the results of the study.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Retrospective Current
Note. High scores indicate egalitarian attitudes and low scores indicate patriarchal attitudes.
Figure 1. Mean (+SD) Patriarchal/Egalitarian Scores
Egaltarian
Attitudes