Male Clergy Research Articles

PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF MIDCAREER MALE ANGLICAN CLERGY

Forty male Anglican clergy completed the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire during mid-career development consultations. The findings that the clergy display elevated neuroticism scores and psychoticism scores no lower than men in general contradict predictions emerging from recent studies concerned with the relationship between personality and religion and suggest the need for further research.

Clergy Counseling Practices, Christian Orthodoxy and Problem Solving Styles

This survey study of 127 male clergy from 10 Protestant denominations in Ontario investigated counseling practices, religious orthodoxy, problem solving styles and related variables, in order to increase the understanding of clergy as counselors. Results confirmed that clergy spend a significant amount of time counseling a wide variety of problems, and that their views of mental illness and their approaches to counseling are related to their religious orthodoxy and their approaches to problem solving. For example, clergy who tended to view both the individual and God as active in problem solving also tended to report using both psychological and spiritual techniques in their counseling. However, clergy who tended to view the individual as passive, and God as active in problem solving, were more likely to use spiritual techniques in their counseling. Similarly, more orthodox clergy employed spiritual counseling techniques more than did less orthodox clergy. Other findings and their implications are reported and discussed.

Adult Development Periods and Protestant Mole Clergy: A Descriptive Framework

There has been great interest generated in the past 10 years over the idea of developmental periods in adulthood. There has been some interest in research on clergy but the majority of this research has been clinical in nature. This article explores both adult developmental psychology' and studies of clergy in an attempt to describe the young adulthood and middle adulthood periods in protestant male clergy. It is hoped that by doing so the parameters will be established for further research with clergy.

Values as Predictors of Social Activist Behavior

This study investigates values as correlates of social activist behavior. A stratified random sample of 75 black and white, Protestant and Catholic male clergy in mainline denominations in Boston and in the first ring of suburbs surrounding Boston were interviewed between July-December, 1975, during the midst of the major Boston school desegregation controversy. Respondents completed the terminal values section of the Rokeach Value Survey, and answered questions about the extent of their participation in activities to support the peaceful implementation of the school desegregation process. Zero-order correlations between social activism and specific values were computed for the clergy sample and compared to previous research with student populations. Partial correlations between social activism and specific values (controlling for the effects of intercorrelations among the values) reveal that "equality" and ':freedom" are the two values which are significantly (p < .05) and positively correlated with social activism. The findings are related to the Rokeach "two-value law of political activism, " with which these results are consistent.

The female clergy: a case of professional marginality.

The present paper reports an analysis of data on one marginal position, the clergywoman. At least two general factors have interacted to produce changes in the number and characteristics of clergywomen in the United States in the present century: opposition to women as clergy, and conflict between the roles required of clergy and those traditionally required of American women. Evidence is presented that the females small. The characteristics of females who enter and remain in the clergy are not likely to improve the image and status of the clergywoman. Clergywomen today are generally older and less educated than clergymen. They are less likely to be married to be absent. In comparison with male clergy, clergywomen are more likely to work part-time and to report much lower annual incomes. These charactesitics provide little evidence for the increased professionalization of clergywomen, suggest at least their professional marginality, and may be seen as questioning the labeling of these females as professi...