Measuring Ministry-Specific Stress and Satisfaction: The Psychometric Properties of the Positive and Negative Aspects Inventories

Abstract

This article outlines the creation and validation of a pair of questionnaires that measure both the intensity of potentially positive and negative aspects of Christian ministry life, and the frequency with which these aspects occur. These measures of ministry-specific stress and satisfaction identify life-giving and life-eroding aspects of ministry life that are not typically shared with secular professions and occupations, and also help capture the aspects that either overlap with or differentiate between those who minister inside traditional church settings and those involved in community-based or parachurch ministries. Psychometric testing of the Positive Aspects Inventory (PAI) and Negative Aspects Inventory (NAI) was conducted in two phases. The first phase involved an item and subscale refinement and reliability investigation. The second phase entailed a validity investigation regarding each construct claimed to be measured by the questionnaires, and the establishment of meaningful score ranges for interpretative purposes. The resulting measures have empirical validity and have potential usefulness in further investigations of ministry life wellbeing and stress.

Keywords

clergy assessment/functioning/selection spiritual growth/spiritual well-being/spiritual maturity psychology and the church or ministry

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Barnard

L. K.

Curry

J. F.

(2011). The relationship of clergy burnout to self-compassion and other personality dimensions. Pastoral Psychology, 61, 149–163. doi 10.1007/s11089-011-0377-0.

Beebe

R. S.

(2003). Assessing self and role in clergy: Relationships between burnout, conflict management style and turnover (unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of New York.

Beebe

R. S.

(2007). Predicting burnout, conflict management style, and turnover among clergy. Journal of Career Assessment, 15(2), 257–275. doi: 10.1177/1069072706298157.

Doolittle

B. R.

(2007). Burnout and coping among parish-based clergy. Mental Health, Religion, and Culture, 10(1), 31–38. doi: 10.1080/13674670600857591.

Evers

Tomic

(2003). Burnout among Dutch Reformed pastors. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 31(4), 329–338.

Francis

L. J.

Hills

Rutledge

C. J. F.

(2008). Clergy work-related satisfactions in parochial ministry: The influence of personality and churchmanship. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 11(3), 327–339. doi: 10.1080/13674670701288639.

Francis

L. J.

Laycock

Brewster

(2017). Work-related psychological wellbeing: Testing the balanced affect model among Anglican clergy. Religions, 8, 1–11. doi: 10.3390/rel8070118.

Freudenberger

H. J.

(1980). Burnout: The high cost of high achievement. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.

Furr

R. M.

(2011). Scale construction and psychometrics for social and personality psychology. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.

10.

Furr

R. M.

Bacharach

(2013). Psychometrics: An Introduction. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.

11.

Golden

Piedmont

R. L.

Ciarrocchi

J. W.

Rodgerson

(2004). Spirituality and burnout: An incremental validity study. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 32(2), 115–125.

12.

Headly

Holmstron

Wearing

(1985). Models of well-being and ill-being. Social Indicators Research, 17, 211–234.

13.

Kemery

E. R.

(2006). Clergy role stress and satisfaction: Role ambiguity isn’t always bad. Pastoral Psychology, 54, 561–570.

14.

Lee

Iverson-Gilbert

(2003). Demand, support, and perception in family-related stress among protestant clergy. Family Relations, 52(3), 249–257.

15.

Malcolm

(2003). The Clergy Wellness Project (unpublished report prepared for the Anglican Diocese of Toronto). Toronto, ON.

16.

Maslach

Jackson

S. E.

(1981). The measurement of experienced burnout. Journal of Occupational Behavior, 2, 99–113.

17.

Maslach

Jackson

S. E.

Leiter

M. P.

(1996). Maslach Burnout Inventory Manual (3rd ed.). Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.

18.

Maslach

Jackson

S. E.

Leiter

M. P.

(2016). Maslach Burnout Inventory (4th ed.). Menlo Park, CA: Mind Garden.

19.

Meek

K. R.

McMinn

M. R.

Brower

C. M.

Burnett

T. D.

McRay

B. W.

Ramey

M. L.

Swanson

D. W.

Villa

D. D.

(2003). Maintaining personal resiliency: Lessons learned from evangelical protestant clergy. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 31(4), 339–347.

20.

Meyers

L. S.

Gamst

Guarino

A. J.

(2006). Applied multivariate research: Design and interpretation. Los Angeles: Sage.

21.

Neff

K. D.

(2003). The Development and validation of a scale to measure self-compassion. Self and Identity, 2, 223–250. |doi: 10.1080/15298860390209035.

22.

Pargament

K. I.

Mahoney

(2005). Sacred matters: Sanctification as a vital topic for the psychology of religion. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 15(3), 179–198.

23.

Proeschold-Bell

R. J.

Legrand

James

Wallace

Adams

Toole

(2009). A theoretical model of the holistic health of United Methodist clergy. Journal of Religious Health, 50, 700–720. doi 10.1007/s10943-009-9250-1.

24.

Proeschold-Bell

R. J.

Smith

Eisenberg

Legrand

Adams

Wilk

(2015). The glory of God is a human being fully alive: Predictors of positive versus negative mental health among clergy. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 54(4), 702–721.

25.

Proeschold-Bell

R. J.

Yang

Toth

Rivers

M. C.

Carder

(2013). Closeness to God among those doing God’s work: A spiritual well-being measure for clergy. Journal of Religion and Health, 53(3), 878–894.

26.

Rizzo

J. R.

House

R. J.

Lirtzman

S. I.

(1970). Role conflict and ambiguity in complex organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 15(2), 150–163.

27.

Rowatt

G. W.

(2001). Stress and satisfaction in ministry families. Review and Expositor, 98, 523–543.

28.

Wells

C. R

. (2012). The effects of work-related and boundary-related stress on the emotional and physical health status of ordained clergy. Pastoral Psychology, 62, 101–114.