Abstract
Through a national survey, Roman Catholic deacons (n = 1349) and men in spiritual formation for the diaconate, called candidates (n = 205), completed on-line measures of personality dimensions (i.e., HEXACO-60) and transformational leadership, as well as demographic variables. Results indicated that for both candidates and deacons, personality dimensions of agreeableness and conscientiousness were the most important variables for predicting transformational leadership styles. For deacons only, higher levels of honesty/humility, extraversion, and openness to experience also led to higher transformational leadership styles. Adding demographic variables as co-variates (age, years in a parish, number of children, and number of families in a parish) in the models did not seem to affect the predictive models; however, years in formation (for candidates) and years as a deacon did affect servant leadership style. Implications for the personality and leadership attributes of Catholic “married clergy” are discussed.
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Acknowledgments
This project was funded in part through a DePaul University 2013–14 Research Council Grant. Gratitude is expressed to deacons Gerald Dupont, John Freund, and other members of the National Association of diaconate Directors who supported the participation of their deacons and candidates in this project. The authors also thank Dr. Todd Bottom for creating the on-line survey and Benjamin Bains for data analysis.
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Ferrari, J.R. Called and Formed: Personality Dimensions and Leadership Styles among Catholic Deacons and Men in Formation. Pastoral Psychol 66, 225–237 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-016-0741-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-016-0741-1