Before and After Black Rock City
Transformative Experience
Since 2015, a team of researchers have used the online survey to ask a series of questions about transformative experiences at Burning Man. They ask these questions in a variety of settings, studying the types of changes reported from participants in different environments.
More information about the work conducted by this research team can be found at http://www.crockettlab.org/
Transformative Experience
Self-Report of a Transformative Experience* in Black Rock City
Error bars indicate the upper and lower bounds of the 95% confidence intervals.
* The exact wording of this question in the online survey was, "Did you have a transformative experience in Black Rock City this year?"
** In the 2015 online survey this answer options was "Absolutely." In all following years, the option was changed to "Definitely."
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percent | MoE +/- % | Percent | MoE +/- % | Percent | MoE +/- % | Percent | MoE +/- % | ||||
| Not at All | 6.5 | 0.6 | 10.6 | 0.8 | 10.5 | 1.0 | 9.3 | 0.8 | |||
| 2 | 9.1 | 0.8 | 7.6 | 0.8 | 7.7 | 0.8 | 8.0 | 0.8 | |||
| 3 | 8.8 | 0.8 | 6.4 | 0.6 | 7.6 | 0.8 | 7.4 | 0.6 | |||
| Somewhat | 18.8 | 1.0 | 23.7 | 1.2 | 22.6 | 1.4 | 22.3 | 1.2 | |||
| 5 | 21.1 | 1.0 | 17.3 | 1.2 | 16.5 | 1.2 | 16.8 | 1.0 | |||
| 6 | 16.0 | 1.0 | 12.6 | 1.0 | 12.9 | 1.2 | 13.1 | 1.0 | |||
| Definitely** | 19.6 | 1.0 | 21.7 | 1.2 | 22.3 | 1.4 | 23.1 | 1.2 | |||
Transformative Experience
Degree of Expectation of a Transformative Experience* in Black Rock City
Error bars indicate the upper and lower bounds of the 95% confidence intervals.
* Data presented in the plot above and table below are for participants who reported experiencing a transformative experience in Black Rock City during each event year. The exact wording of this question in the online survey was, "Did you go to Burning Man expecting this transformation?"
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percent | MoE +/- % | Percent | MoE +/- % | Percent | MoE +/- % | |||
| Not at All | 17.3 | 1.2 | 20.7 | 1.4 | 21.1 | 1.2 | ||
| 2 | 10.4 | 1.0 | 13.0 | 1.2 | 11.2 | 1.0 | ||
| 3 | 9.3 | 1.0 | 10.6 | 1.0 | 10.2 | 0.8 | ||
| Somewhat | 39.8 | 1.6 | 35.4 | 1.6 | 35.3 | 1.4 | ||
| 5 | 11.2 | 1.0 | 8.6 | 1.0 | 8.4 | 0.8 | ||
| 6 | 4.9 | 0.6 | 4.6 | 0.8 | 5.7 | 0.6 | ||
| Absolutely | 7.2 | 0.8 | 7.1 | 0.8 | 8.0 | 0.8 | ||
Transformative Experience
Degree of Desirability of a Transformative Experience* in Black Rock City
Error bars indicate the upper and lower bounds of the 95% confidence intervals.
* Data presented in the plot above and table below are for participants who reported experiencing a transformative experience in Black Rock City during each event year. The exact wording of this question in the online survey was, "Did you go to Burning Man desiring this transformation?"
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percent | MoE +/- % | Percent | MoE +/- % | Percent | MoE +/- % | |||
| Not at All | 12.1 | 1.0 | 11.3 | 1.0 | 13.9 | 1.0 | ||
| 2 | 8.0 | 0.8 | 8.6 | 1.0 | 8.9 | 0.8 | ||
| 3 | 7.6 | 0.8 | 7.0 | 0.8 | 7.1 | 0.8 | ||
| Somewhat | 29.7 | 1.4 | 28.5 | 1.6 | 25.8 | 1.2 | ||
| 5 | 15.1 | 1.2 | 14.8 | 1.2 | 11.7 | 1.0 | ||
| 6 | 9.5 | 0.8 | 9.0 | 1.0 | 10.8 | 1.0 | ||
| Absolutely | 18.0 | 1.2 | 20.8 | 1.4 | 21.8 | 1.2 | ||
Transformative Experience
Persistence of Transformative Experience* After Departing Black Rock City
Error bars indicate the upper and lower bounds of the 95% confidence intervals.
* Data presented in the plot above and table below are for participants who reported experiencing a transformative experience in Black Rock City during each event year. The exact wording of this question in the online survey was, "Did this transformation persist after you left Black Rock City?"
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percent | MoE +/- % | Percent | MoE +/- % | Percent | MoE +/- % | Percent | MoE +/- % | ||||
| No | 3.9 | 0.6 | 5.9 | 0.8 | 5.9 | 0.8 | 8.2 | 0.8 | |||
| Yes, but These Changes Went Away After a While | 10.8 | 0.8 | 9.9 | 1.0 | 7.7 | 1.0 | 10.0 | 0.8 | |||
| Yes, and I Still Feel These Changes | 85.3 | 1.0 | 84.2 | 1.2 | 86.3 | 1.2 | 81.8 | 1.2 | |||
Transformative Experience
Duration* of Transformative Experience After Departing Black Rock City
Error bars indicate the upper and lower bounds of the 95% confidence intervals.
* Data presented in the plot above and table below are for participants who reported experiencing a transformative experience that persisted after departing Black Rock City, but that went away before the online survey was submitted.
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percent | MoE +/- % | Percent | MoE +/- % | Percent | MoE +/- % | Percent | MoE +/- % | ||||
| Less Than 1 Day | 1.1 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 0.9 | 0.8 | |||
| 1-3 Days | 10.1 | 2.5 | 11.9 | 3.3 | 12.9 | 4.3 | 9.2 | 2.4 | |||
| 3 Days-1 Week | 25.0 | 3.9 | 26.2 | 5.1 | 22.1 | 5.7 | 22.7 | 4.1 | |||
| 1-2 Weeks | 32.2 | 4.5 | 29.9 | 5.3 | 29.4 | 7.1 | 34.2 | 5.5 | |||
| 2-3 Weeks | 15.8 | 3.3 | 16.2 | 4.1 | 17.1 | 5.7 | 16.7 | 3.7 | |||
| 3-4 Weeks | 6.7 | 2.2 | 5.8 | 2.4 | 5.2 | 2.5 | 7.8 | 2.5 | |||
| 4-5 Weeks | 3.8 | 1.6 | 2.9 | 1.6 | 5.1 | 3.1 | 4.6 | 2.2 | |||
| 5+ Weeks | 5.4 | 2.0 | 5.7 | 2.4 | 4.8 | 2.9 | 4.0 | 1.8 | |||