Comparative Study of Persisters and Leavers in Seminary Training

Abstract

The present research investigated the comparison of Rorschach responses of 152 male Catholic seminarians with the expected norms for the general adult population. The seminarians were also divided into two groups, 98 persisters and 54 leavers. A comparison of Rorschach responses between these groups was made by means of a univariate analysis of variance. Personality correlates of these responses were proposed and discussed. Results indicated that a majority of seminarians' responses differed significantly from the norms and suggested that seminarians are introversive, non-conforming, and not at ease in their ability to maintain interpersonal relationships. They tend to be anxious but with adaptive ego strength which is less rigid than expected. They also tend to have more blatant sexual content and less self-devaluation than expected. Results also indicated that persisters differed from leavers mainly in amount and quality of anxiety. Anxiety for leavers appeared related to aggressive impulses pushing for expression while persisters experienced anxiety over a lack of emotional fulfillment related to need for affection and interpersonal relationships. Difficulties in the homogeneity of groups and further study were discussed.