Perseverance of Roman Catholic Religious Brothers as a Function of Perceived Level of Interpersonal Communication

Abstract

This exploratory study investigated the extent to which the perceived level of interpersonal communication within a given Roman Catholic religious institute influences a religious brother's decision to remain in his religious institute. A six-variable path model explained 16% of the variance in the decisions of a sample of 147 religious brothers. Interpersonal communication affects perseverance positively in an indirect way, i. e., it strengthens friendship and lessens the desire to marry. Interpersonal communication reduces also loneliness. Friendship exercises the strongest positive effect upon perseverance. Desire to marry and problems coping with celibacy have the strongest negative effects upon perseverance. The relationship between friendship and desire to marry needs further investigation.