Effects of Narcissism and Religiosity on Church Ministers with Respect to Ethical Judgment, Confidence, and Forgiveness

Narcissism has been negatively correlated with better ethical judgment. Intrinsic (I)—but not extrinsic—religiosity has been positively associated with better ethical judgment. We hypothesize that these relationships also hold for Christian church ministers. Therefore, this study of church ministers...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of psychology and theology 2016-03, Vol.44 (1), p.42-54
Main Authors: Cooper, Marjorie J, Pullig, Chris, Dickens, Charles
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ethical aspects
Influence
Ministers (Clergy)
Narcissism
Practice
Psychological aspects
Religiousness
Surveys
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Summary:Narcissism has been negatively correlated with better ethical judgment. Intrinsic (I)—but not extrinsic—religiosity has been positively associated with better ethical judgment. We hypothesize that these relationships also hold for Christian church ministers. Therefore, this study of church ministers was undertaken to determine the effects of religiosity and narcissism on the ethical judgment of ministers confronted with 10 different ethical scenarios. To test our hypotheses, we surveyed 2,490 Protestant church ministers and received 488 usable surveys. Results indicated that intrinsic religiosity—but not extrinsic personal (Ep) or extrinsic social (Es) religiosity—had significant positive effects on ethical judgment, participants’ confidence in their ethical judgment, and participants’ willingness to forgive. Ep, in contrast, had significant negative effects on ethical judgment and willingness to forgive, while Es had a significant negative effect on confidence. Narcissism overall had a negative effect on ethical judgment and was found to interact with intrinsic religiosity such that the effects of narcissism were mitigated in the presence of high levels of intrinsic religiosity.
ISSN:0091-6471
2328-1162
DOI:10.1177/009164711604400104