The Library

Clergy work-related satisfactions in parochial ministry: the influence of personality and churchmanship

Tools

Francis, Leslie J., Hills, P. R. and Rutledge, Christopher J. F.. (2008) Clergy work-related satisfactions in parochial ministry: the influence of personality and churchmanship. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, Vol.11 (No.3). pp. 327-339. ISSN 1367-4676

PDF
WRAP_Francis_0673558-ie-160210-pap15rev.pdf - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader
Download (298Kb)

Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13674670701288639

Abstract

The aim of this study was to test several hypotheses that clergy work-related satisfaction could be better explained by a multidimensional rather than a unidimensional model. A sample of 1071 male stipendiary parochial clergy in the Church of England completed the Clergy Role Inventory, together with the short-form Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Factor analysis of the Clergy Role Inventory identified five separate clergy roles: Religious Instruction, Administration, Statutory Duties (conducting marriages and funerals), Pastoral Care, and Role Extension (including extra-parochial activities). Respondents also provided an indication of their predispositions on the catholic-evangelical and liberal-conservative dimensions. The significant associations of the satisfactions derived from each of the roles with the demographic, personality, and churchmanship variables were numerous, varied, and, with few exceptions, small in magnitude. Separate hierarchical regressions for each of the five roles indicated that the proportion of total variance explained by churchmanship was, in general, at least as great as that explained by personality, and was greater for three roles: Religious Instruction, Statutory Duties, and Role Extension. It was concluded that clergy satisfactions derived from different roles are not uniform and that churchmanship is at least as important as personality in accounting for clergy work satisfaction.

Item Type:

Journal Article

Subjects:

B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BR Christianity
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology

Divisions:

Faculty of Social Sciences > Institute of Education ( -2013)

Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):

Maudsley personality inventory, Church of England -- Clergy, Clergy -- Psychology, Psychology and religion, Job satisfaction -- Religious aspects -- Christianity

Journal or Publication Title:

Mental Health, Religion & Culture

Publisher:

Routledge

ISSN:

1367-4676

Official Date:

April 2008

Dates:

Date	Event
April 2008	Published

Volume:

Vol.11

Number:

No.3

Page Range:

pp. 327-339

Identification Number:

10.1080/13674670701288639

Status:

Peer Reviewed

Access rights to Published version:

Restricted or Subscription Access

References:

Andrews, F. M., & Inglehart, R. D. (1979). The structure of psychological well-being in nine western societies. Social Indicators Research, 6, 73-90.
Barna, G. (1993). Today’s pastors. Ventura, CA: Regal Books.
Birdi, K. S., Warr, P. B., & Oswald, A. (1995). Age differences in three components of employee well-being. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 44, 345-373.
Blizzard, S. W. (1958). The parish minister’s self-image of his master role. Pastoral Psychology, 89, 25-32.
Campbell, A., Converse, P. E., & Rodgers, W. L. (1976). The quality of American life. New York: Sage.
Clark, A., Oswald, A., Warr, P. B. (1996). Is job satisfaction U-shaped in age? Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 69, 57-81.
Coate, M. A. (1989). Clergy stress: The hidden conflicts in ministry. London: Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge.
Cooper, C. (1985). Your place in the stress league. The Sunday Times, 24 February.
Davey, J. (1995). Burnout: Stress in ministry. Leominster: Gracewing
Eysenck, S. B. G., Eysenck, H. J., & Barrett, P. (1985). A revised version of the psychoticism scale. Personality and Individual Differences, 6, 21-29.
Fitcher, J. H. (1984). The myth of clergy burnout. Sociological Analysis, 45, 373-382.
Fletcher, B. (1990). Clergy under stress: A study of homosexual and heterosexual clergy. London: Mowbray.
Francis, L. J., Kaldor, P., Robbins, M., & Castle, K. (2005). Happy but exhausted? Work-related psychological health among clergy. Pastoral Sciences, 24, 101-120.
Francis, L. J., & Robbins, M. (1999). The relationship between personality and satisfaction/ dissatisfaction with ministry among female stipendiary Anglican clergy in the UK. Pastoral Psychology, 47, 439-444.
Francis, L. J., & Rodger, R. (1994). The influence of personality on clergy role prioritization, role influences, conflict and dissatisfaction with the ministry. Personality and Individual Differences, 16, 947-957.
Francis, L. J., & Turton, D. W. (2002). Are charismatic clergy more satisfied with their ministry? A study among male parochial clergy in the Church of England. Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 5, 135-142.
Goetz, D. (1997). Why Pastor Steve loves his job. Christianity Today, 7, 12-19.
Headey, B. W., & Wearing, A. J. (1992). Understanding happiness. Melbourne: Longman Cheshire.
Headey, B. W., Holmstrom, E.L., & Wearing, A. J. (1985). Models of well-being and ill-being. Social Indicators Research, 17, 211-234.
Hills, P., Francis, L. J., & Rutledge, C. J. F. (2004). The factor structure of a measure of burnout specific to clergy, and its trial application with respect to some individual personal differences. Review of Religious Research, 46, 27-42.
Kay, W. K. (2000). Job satisfaction of British Pentecostal ministers. Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies, 3, 83-97.
King, H., & Lock, F. B. (1980). American white Presbyterian clergy as a low risk population for mortality research. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 65, 1115-1124.
Kirk, M., & Leary, T. (1994). Holy matrimony? An exploration of marriage and ministry. Oxford: Lynx.
Lock, F. B., & King, H. (1980). Mortality among Baptist clergymen. Journal of Chronic Diseases, 33, 581-590.
Maslach, C., & Jackson, S. E. (1981).The measurement of experienced burnout. Journal of Occupational Behavior, 2, 99-113.
McDuff, E. M., & Mueller, C. W. (1999). Social support and compensating differentials in the Protestant ministry: Gender difference in two protestant denominations. Review of Religious Research, 40, 307-329.
Mueller, C. W., & Wallace, J.E. (1996). Justice and the paradox of the contented female worker. Social Psychology Quarterly, 59, 338-349.
National Federation of Priests’ Councils (1994). Project future directions: Survey reports. Chicago: National Federation of Priests’ Councils.
Phelan, J. (1994). The paradox of the contented female worker: An assessment of alternative explanations. Social Psychology Quarterly, 57, 95-107.
Randall, K. (2005). Evangelicals etcetera: Conflict and conviction in the Church of England’s parties, Aldershot, Ashgate.
Robbins, M., & Francis, L. J. (2000). Role prioritization among clergywomen: The influence of personality and church tradition among Female stipendiary Anglican clerics in the UK. British Journal of Theological Education, 11, 7-23.
Rose, M. (1999). Explaining and forecasting job satisfaction: The contribution of occupational profiling, (Working Paper 2. Work Centrality, Careers, and Household Project, Future of Work Programme). Bath: Environmental Sciences Research Council.
Rutledge, C. J. F. (1999). Exploring burnout among Anglican parochial clergy. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Wales, Lampeter.
Sanford, J. A. (1982). Ministry burnout. London: Arthur James.
Stanton-Rich, H. M., & Iso-Ahola. S. E. (1998). Burnout and leisure. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 28, 1931-1950.
Strümpfer, D. J. W., & Bands, J. (1996). Stress among clergy: An exploratory study of South African priests. South African Journal of Psychology, 26, 67-75.
Turton, D. W., & Francis, L. J. (2002). Assessing ministerial job satisfaction: The reliability of the Revised MJSS among male Anglican clergy. Review of Religious Research, 44, 169-172.
Warner, J., & Carter, J. D. (1984). Loneliness, marital adjustment and burnout in pastoral and lay persons. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 12, 125-131.