A survey of the distribution of temperament types amongst ministers in the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa as measured by the Keirsey Temperament Sorter II.
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Date
1999
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Abstract
Differences in psychological attitudes, functions, types and temperaments have been
shown to have significant effects on the functioning of Christian ministers and their
congregations. Knowledge of the distribution of these differences could facilitate
more specifically targeted education, training and development programmes for
ministers. In Post Academic Training programmes for ministers of the Presbyterian
Church of Southern Africa (PCSA), the assumption is made that the distribution of
attitudes, functions, types and temperaments among ministers of the PCSA is similar
to that among clergy from various denominations in the USA and Presbyterian
ministers in the USA. These results differed from the distribution of the general
population represented by those tested on the World-Wide-Web. In order to
investigate this assumption, a survey was conducted of the 310 ministers and
licensed probationers of the PCSA in South Africa using the Keirsey Temperaments
Sorter 11. There were 90 responses giving a response rate of 28.9%. As expected,
the distribution of psychological attitudes, functions, types and temperaments among
ministers of PCSA was different from the general population. Contrary to
expectations, it was also significantly different from clergy from various
denominations in the USA and Presbyterian ministers in the USA. The most notable
difference was with the Sensing-Judging (SJ) temperament, which was preferred almost twice as much by PCSA ministers (58%) than either of the other clergy groups (34% and 29%). The temperament next most strongly preferred by PCSA ministers
was Intuitive-Feeling (NF), although at 33% the distribution was similar to the other
clergy groups (41 % and 44%). The implications of these, and other, findings for
ministers, congregations and the education, training and development of ministers is
discussed in detail.
Description
Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1999.
Keywords
Presbyterian Church--Africa, Southern--Clergy--Temperament, Temperament--Religious aspects--Christianity., Presbyterian Church--Africa, Southern--Clergy--Psychology., Theses--Theology.