Abstract
In this enquiry the author reports on four research studies carried out in four different groups of religious. A comparison of the four of them is difficult because of the instruments which were used : the scales and a precoded questionnaire are not the same. In fact, only seven common factors were studied by means of factor analysis : 1) the extent to which one perceives the individual or the formal structure of autho rity as the source of the structuralization of authority ; 2) the importance which one attaches to the satisfaction of desires, needs and personal aspirations ; 3) the fact of living religious life more inside or outside the group ; 4) the fact of living the specific spirit of the group to which one belongs ; 5) the evaluation of prayer life ; 6) the confidence which one has in the religious development of the Order or Congregation ; 7) the attitude and evaluation of mutual contacts.
Only these factors are compared in the factor analysis, Some other aspects of the enquiries have been commented on briefly.