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The Psychological Profile of Church of England Male Archdeacons at the Beginning of the Twenty-first Century: Drawing on Psychological Type and Temperament Theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 November 2018

Leslie J. Francis  and
Michael Whinney
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Abstract

Recent discussion and research has pointed to the changing functions of archdeacons within the Church of England as the role has become expanded to combine both the traditional statutory functions with flexible and visionary leadership skills within a changing church. This study draws on data collected in 2009 from 186 active and retired male archdeacons in order to assess the psychological profile established by that time. Compared with the psychological profile of 626 clergymen, male archdeacons were much more likely to prefer the SJ temperament (60 per cent compared with 31 per cent), a temperament ideally suited for effective administration of the statutory functions. As a consequence, preference for intuition was lower among male archdeacons (38 per cent compared with 62 per cent), as was preference for perceiving (9 per cent compared with 32 per cent), qualities core for flexibility and visionary leadership.

Keywords

psychologyreligionarchdeaconspersonalitypsychological type
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Anglican Studies , Volume 17 , Issue 1 , May 2019 , pp. 74 - 92
Copyright
© The Journal of Anglican Studies Trust 2018 

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Footnotes

1.

Leslie J. Francis (corresponding author), University of Warwick, England, UK and Michael Whinney, St Mary’s Centre, Wales, UK.

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