Self-Regard in Pastoral Ministry: Self-Compassion versus Self-Criticism in a Sample of United Methodist Clergy

Pastoral ministry is a demanding and stressful vocation, and the empirical and anecdotal literature on ministry has often emphasized this negative outlook. More recent work, however, has shifted toward a more positive emphasis on personal characteristics that might help pastors be more resilient. Th...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Lee, Cameron (Author) ; Rosales, Aaron (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage Publishing [2019]
In: Journal of psychology and theology
Year: 2020, Volume: 48, Issue: 1, Pages: 18-33
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B United Methodist Church (USA) / Pastor / Self-estimation / Wellness
RelBib Classification:AE Psychology of religion
KBQ North America
KDD Protestant Church
RB Church office; congregation
ZD Psychology
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
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Description
Summary:Pastoral ministry is a demanding and stressful vocation, and the empirical and anecdotal literature on ministry has often emphasized this negative outlook. More recent work, however, has shifted toward a more positive emphasis on personal characteristics that might help pastors be more resilient. The present study examined the interplay of identity demands, social support, and self-regard in accounting for both positive (positive affect and life satisfaction) and negative (negative affect and burnout) outcomes. Self-compassion, which was measured using the short form of Neff's (2003) Self-Compassion Scale (SCS-SF), was herein reconceptualized as being comprised of two types of self-regard: self-compassion and self-criticism. Regression analyses with data collected from 200 United Methodist pastors indicated that social support and self-compassion (in descending order of importance) explained a significant proportion of the variance of the positive outcome, while self-criticism, social support, demand, and gender explained the negative.
ISSN:2328-1162
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of psychology and theology
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/0091647119870290