What happened to the fig tree? : an empirical study in psychological type and biblical hermeneutics

The SIFT method of biblical hermeneutics and liturgical preaching has its roots in Jungian psychological type theory and maintains that the reading and interpretation of text is shaped by individual preferences within the perceiving process (sensing and intuition) and within the evaluating process (thinking and feeling). The present study tests the empirical foundation for this method by examining the way in which three groups of participants familiar with handling scripture (N = 31, 14, and 47) interpret the Marcan narrative concerning the cleansing of the temple and the cursing of the fig tree. The data provide further support for the psychological principles underpinning the SIFT method

Mystical orientation and the perceiving process : a study among Anglican clergymen

This study examines the hypothesised link between mystical orientation and the perceiving process within the Jungian model of psychological type. Data were provided by 232 Anglican clergymen serving in the Church in Wales who completed both the Francis-Louden Mystical Orientation Scale and the Francis Psychological Type Scales. The data demonstrated that intuitive types recorded significantly higher scores than sensing types on the index of mystical orientation, supporting the hypothesis based on Ross' thesis

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

This study employs 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 under-represented among visitors to these two cathedrals. The implications of these findings are discussed both for maximising 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

New Kadampa Buddhists and Jungian psychological type

Building on previous studies on Canadian Anglicans and Catholics, this study examines and discusses the psychological type profile of 31 adherents to New Kadampa Buddhism. Like Anglicans and Catholics, Buddhists preferred introversion (I). Like Anglicans who preferred intuition (N) and unlike Catholics who preferred sensing (S), Buddhists displayed a preference for intuition (N). Unlike Anglicans and Catholics who both preferred feeling (F), Buddhists displayed a balance between feeling (F) and thinking (T). Like Anglicans and unlike Catholics, Buddhists preferred the Apollonian temperament (NF) over the Epimethean temperament (SJ). These data are discussed to interpret the psychological appeal of New Kadampa Buddhism

Not fitting in and getting out : psychological type and congregational satisfaction among Anglican churchgoers in England

Listening to the motivations reported by individuals for ceasing church attendance and becoming church leavers, Francis and Richter identified high on the list the sense of "not fitting in". Drawing on psychological type theory, several recent studies have documented the way in which some psychological types are over-represented in church congregations and other psychological types are under-represented. Bringing these two observations together, the present study tested the hypothesis that church congregations have created type-alike communities within which individuals displaying the opposite type preferences are more likely to feel marginalised and to display lower levels of satisfaction with the congregations they attend. Data were provided by 1867 churchgoers who completed a measure of psychological type, together with measures of frequency of attendance and congregational satisfaction. These data confirmed that congregations were weighted towards preferences for introversion, sensing, feeling and judging, and that individuals displaying the opposite preferences (especially intuition, thinking and perceiving) recorded lower levels of congregational satisfaction. The implications of these findings are discussed for promoting congregational retention by enhancing awareness of psychological type preferences among those who attend

Congregational bonding social capital and psychological type : an empirical enquiry among Australian churchgoers

This study explores the variation in levels of bonding social capital experienced by individual churchgoers, drawing on data generated by the Australian National Church Life Survey, and employing a five-item measure of church-related bonding social capital. Data provided by 2065 Australian churchgoers are used to test the thesis that individual differences in bonding social capital are related to a psychological model of psychological types (employing the Jungian distinctions). The data demonstrated that higher levels of bonding social capital were found among extraverts (compared with introverts), among intuitive types (compared with sensing types) and among feeling types (compared with thinking types), but no significant differences were found between judging types and perceiving types

Psychological type and prayer preferences: a study among Anglican clergy in the United Kingdom

This study applies the framework of Jungian psychological type theory to define eight aspects of prayer preference, namely: introverted prayer, extraverted prayer, sensing prayer, intuitive prayer, feeling prayer, thinking prayer, judging prayer, and perceiving prayer. On the basis of data provided by 1,476 newly ordained Anglican clergy from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, eight 7-item scales were developed to access these aspects of prayer preferences. Significant correlations were found between each prayer preference and the relevant aspect of psychological type accessed by the Keirsey Temperament Sorter. These data support the theory that psychological type influences the way in which people pray

Psychological type profile of Canadian Baptist youth leaders: Implications for Christian education

A recent study of the psychological type profile of Christian youth workers in the UK drew attention to differences between the profiles of youth workers and clergy, and highlighted distinctive strengths and weaknesses that may be experienced by youth workers in Christian ministry. The present study, employing the Francis Psychological Type Scales among Canadian Baptist youth leaders (150 men, 186 women), cautions against generalizing on the basis of findings from the UK study. Among the Canadian Baptist youth leaders, compared with the UK Christian youth workers, there were higher proportions of introverts, sensing types, thinking types and judging types

The psychological-type profile of clergywomen in ordained local ministry in the Church of England : pioneers or custodians?

This study employs psychological-type theory to compare the psychological profile of 144 clergywomen serving in ordained local ministry in the Church of England alongside the established profile of 237 professional mobile clergywomen serving in the Church of England published by Francis, Craig, Whinney, Tilley, and Slater. The data found no significant differences between these two groups of clergywomen in terms of orientations (introversion and extraversion) or in terms of the judging process (thinking and feeling). In terms of the perceiving process, there was a significantly higher proportion of sensing types among those serving in ordained local ministry (70% compared with 35%). In terms of the attitudes, there was a significantly higher proportion of judging types among those serving in ordained local ministry (83% compared with 65%). The combined sensing judging (SJ) temperament accounted for 65% of the clergywomen serving in ordained local ministry, compared with 29% of the clergywomen serving in professional mobile ministry in the earlier study. It is argued that the SJ temperament characterises a custodian style of ministry

The psychological-type profile of lay church leaders in Australia

A sample of 845 lay church leaders (444 women and 401 men) from a range of 24 different denominations and movements (including house churches and independent churches) completed the Francis Psychological-Type Scales within the context of the 2006 Australian National Church Life Survey. The psychological-type profiles of these lay church leaders were almost identical to the type profiles of 1527 Australian churchgoers (936 women and 591 men) published in an earlier study by Robbins and Francis. The predominant types among female lay church leaders were ISFJ (21%), ESFJ (21%), and ISTJ (18%). The predominant types among male lay church leaders were ISTJ (28%), ISFJ (17%), ESTJ (13%), and ESFJ (12%). The SJ temperament accounted for 67% of the female lay church leaders and for 70% of the male lay church leaders. The strengths and weaknesses of the SJ leadership style are discussed