Andrew Village

Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion

The 25th volume of Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion continues to provide readers with an interdisciplinary assortment of high quality research studies aimed at capturing salient, contemporary trends in the field. The current volume presents a special section examining the role of spiritual and religious themes in sexuality research.

The Relationship of Psychological Type Preferences to Biblical Interpretation

This paper tests the theory that lay people prefer interpretations of the bible that match their psychological type preferences. A sample of 404 lay, adult Anglicans from 11 different churches read a healing story from Marks gospel and then chose between interpretative statements designed to appeal to particular psychological type preferences. Psychological type preferences were assessed according Jungs typology using the Keirsey Temperament Sorter (KTS). Participants preferred interpretations that matched their personality preferences in both the perceiving (sensing versus intuition) and judging (feeling versus thinking) processes. Theological content may also have influenced choice independently of psychological type preferences because those with conservative rather than liberal attitudes to the bible also preferred sensing over intuitive and feeling over thinking interpretations.

Assessing belief about the bible: A study among Anglican laity

Belief about the bible was examined among 404 Anglican churchgoers in England with summated scales measuring conservative-liberal beliefs about the bible, morality and religious exclusivity. Two other scales were developed to assess the extent to which beliefs were held dogmatically. The bible scale was unidimensional, internally reliable (Cronbachs alpha = .91) and closely correlated with scales measuring moral beliefs (r = .58, p <.01) and religious exclusivity (r =.73, p <.01). Scores were highest (most conservative) in Evangelical churches, intermediate in Broad churches and lowest in Anglo-catholic churches. Conservative belief in the bible was related negatively to education level in all traditions, and positively to attendance in Evangelical churches but not in other traditions. It was unrelated to either gender or age. Liberal belief in the bible was not related to lack of religiosity as measured by church attendance or bible-reading frequency. Dogmatically held belief was evident among both conservatives and liberals, and those who held the strongest beliefs in either direction tended to dismiss those who held alternative views. Belief about the bible can be assessed along a conservative-liberal construct that distinguishes liberal belief from unbelief.

The Psychological Temperament of Anglican Clergy in Ordained Local Ministry (OLM): The Conserving, Serving Pastor?

Abstract This study draws on psychological type theory as originally proposed by Jung (1971) and psychological temperament theory as proposed by Keirsey and Bates (1978) to explore the hypothesis that ordained local ministers (OLMs) within the Church of England reflect a psychological profile more in keeping with the profile of Church of England congregations than with the profile of established professional mobile clergy serving in the Church of England. Data provided by 135 individuals recently ordained as OLMs (79 women and 56 men) supported the hypothesis. Compared with established professional mobile clergy there is a higher proportion of the Epimethean Temperament (SJ) among OLMs. Oswald and Kroeger (1988) characterise SJ religious leaders as ‘the conserving, serving pastor’. The implications of these findings are discussed for the evolving ministry of the Church of England.

Psychological Type and Biblical Interpretation among Anglican Clergy in the UK

A questionnaire measuring psychological type preferences and biblical interpretation was completed by 364 male and 354 female clergy ordained in the Anglican Church in the United Kingdom from 2004 to 2007. Preferences among the perceiving functions (sensing versus intuition) and among the judging functions (feeling versus thinking) were assessed using the Francis Psychological Type Scales. Biblical interpretation was assessed by asking respondents to read a healing story from Mark 9:14-29 and then to choose between interpretative statements designed to appeal to particular psychological type preferences. After controlling for differences in biblical conservatism, preference for interpretation was correlated with psychological function preference in both the perceiving and the judging processes. This confirms and expands a similar finding previously reported from a smaller sample of Anglican lay people.

Factors shaping biblical literalism: a study among Anglican laity

Biblical literalism was assessed among 404 adult Anglicans from a variety of church traditions using a summated rating scale based on 10 items referring to events in the Bible. The literalism scale showed high internal reliability (α = .92) and scores were highest (i.e. most literal) in Evangelical churches, intermediate in Broad churches and lowest in Anglo‐Catholic churches. Decisions about whether or not an event happened appeared to be based on a combination of general doctrinal belief about the Bible, the plausibility of the event and the doctrinal weight associated with it. A number of different factors predicted the degree of literalism, including general educational experience, experience of theological education at certificate level or higher, charismatic experience and the frequency of reading the Bible. Both general and specifically theological higher education seemed to reduce literalism in Anglo‐Catholic and Broad churches, but this was not so among Evangelicals, who maintained high levels of...Biblical literalism was assessed among 404 adult Anglicans from a variety of church traditions using a summated rating scale based on 10 items referring to events in the Bible. The literalism scale showed high internal reliability (α = .92) and scores were highest (i.e. most literal) in Evangelical churches, intermediate in Broad churches and lowest in Anglo‐Catholic churches. Decisions about whether or not an event happened appeared to be based on a combination of general doctrinal belief about the Bible, the plausibility of the event and the doctrinal weight associated with it. A number of different factors predicted the degree of literalism, including general educational experience, experience of theological education at certificate level or higher, charismatic experience and the frequency of reading the Bible. Both general and specifically theological higher education seemed to reduce literalism in Anglo‐Catholic and Broad churches, but this was not so among Evangelicals, who maintained high levels of literalism whatever their educational experience.

Psychological-type profiles of churchgoers in England

A sample of 1156 churchgoers (651 women and 505 men) from a range of Christian denominations in England completed the Francis Psychological-Type Scales. Compared with psychological-type profiles published for the UK general population, both male and female churchgoers showed greater preferences for introversion over extraversion and judging over perceiving. Overall, there was a preference for sensing over intuition, but in both sexes this preference was less marked than in the general population. Female churchgoers showed a strong preference for feeling over thinking that mirrored that in the general population. Male churchgoers showed no preference for feeling or thinking, which was in marked contrast to the strong preference for thinking among men in the general population. The predominant types among female churchgoers were ISFJ (22%), ESFJ (15%) and ISTJ (12%), and among male churchgoers ISTJ (24%), ISFJ (14%), INTJ (8%) and ESTJ (7%). These results are compared with similar studies elsewhere in the UK and in Australia.

Applying psychological type theory to cathedral visitors: a case study of two cathedrals in England and Wales.

ABSTRACT This study uses Jungian psychological type theory to profile visitors to Chester Cathedral in England and St Davids Cathedral in Wales. Psychological type theory offers a fourfold psychographic segmentation of visitors, distinguishing between introversion and extraversion, sensing and intuition, thinking and feeling, and judging and perceiving. New data provided by 157 visitors to Chester Cathedral, considered alongside previously published data provided by 381 visitors to St Davids Cathedral, demonstrated that these two cathedrals attract more introverts than extraverts, more sensers than intuitives, and more judgers than perceivers, but equal proportions of thinkers and feelers. Comparison with the population norms demonstrated that extraverts and perceivers are significantly underrepresented among visitors to these 2 cathedrals. The implications of these findings are discussed both for maximizing the visitor experiences of those already attracted to these cathedrals and for discovering ways of attracting more extraverts and more perceivers to explore these cathedrals.

Church tradition and psychological type preferences among Anglicans in England

A sample of 290 individuals attending Evangelical Anglican churches and Anglo-Catholic churches in central England completed the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, a measure of psychological type preferences. Overall, there were clear preferences for sensing over intuition, for feeling over thinking, and for judging over perceiving, which is consistent with the findings of two earlier studies profiling the psychological type of Anglican churchgoers. However, there was also a significantly higher proportion of intuitives among Anglo-Catholics than among Evangelical Anglicans, which is consistent with the greater emphasis in Anglo-Catholic churches on mystery, awe, and the centrality of sacraments in worship which may resonate with the intuitive predisposition. The implications of these findings are discussed for the benefits of breadth and diversity within Anglicanism.

Traditions within the Church of England and psychological type: a study among the clergy

This study examines the relationship of psychological type preferences to membership of three different traditions within the Church of England: Anglo-catholic, broad church and evangelical. A sample of 1047 clergy recently ordained in the Church of England completed the Francis Psychological Type Scales and self-assigned measures of church tradition, conservatism and charismaticism. The majority of clergy preferred introversion over extraversion, but this preference was more marked among Anglo-catholics than among evangelicals. Anglo-catholics showed preference for intuition over sensing, while the reverse was true for evangelicals. Clergy of both sexes showed an overall preference for feeling over thinking, but this was reversed among evangelical clergymen. The sensing-intuition difference between traditions persisted after controlling for conservatism and charismaticism, suggesting it was linked to preferences for different styles of religious expression in worship. Conservatism was related to preferences for sensing over intuition (which may promote preference for traditional worship and parochial practices) and thinking over feeling (which for evangelicals may promote adherence to traditional theological principles and moral behaviour). Charismaticism was associated with preferences for extraversion over introversion, intuition over sensing, and feeling over thinking. Reasons for these associations are discussed in the light of known patterns of belief and practice across the various traditions of the Church of England.