POWERHOLDERS IN THE CHURCH - PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS IN THE UNITED-STATES

Obtained a profile of heads of dioceses. Of 153 ordinaries in the 48 continguous states, 44 volunteered through mail contact, were studied, and were compared through static‐group comparison to a national sample of priests (N = 218) and an initial sample of bishops (N = 81), based on responses to the Personal Orientation Inventory, the Identity Scale, the Loyola Sentence Completion Blank for Clergymen, the Self‐Anchoring Rating Scale of Maturity of Faith, and a demographic data sheet. Of 16 hypotheses, 8 were supported—none compared groups of bishops. Bishops as compared to priests showed more: Occupational commitment, self‐esteem, positive affectual experience, successfully formed identity, expressivity and comfort in social contexts, psychological integrity, autonomy within social limits, and trust. They experienced less overall conflict, and less in regard to self, interpersonal relations, psychosexual maturity, church‐faith‐religion, priesthood, and job satisfaction. However, they were not more mature in faith, showed less individualistic expressivity, and were less self‐actualized than priests—significantly so only as to rigidity in applying values (p <.002). Copyright © 1979 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company