fei75766_ch04_107-148.indd 140  02/19/20 09:00 AM
Part II    Psychodynamic Theories140
Theauthors drew anumber ofinteresting conclusions from thisstudy. First, 
thefactthatthepsychological typeprofiles oflayleaders andthecongregations from 
which theyaredrawn aresosimilar presents bothpotential benefits anddrawbacks. 
Abenefit might bethatlayleaders know andunderstand theircongregations very
well.Adrawback maybethatbothcongregations andlayleaders areoutofstep
withthepsychological types ofthegeneral community, asanearlier study found 
thatbothmale andfemale church attenders show significantly higher preferences for
sensing, feeling, andjudging thanthewider population (Robbins &Francis, 2011). 
Astheauthors write, “Inprinciple, churches proclaim theirinvitation toworship to
allpsychological types. Inpractice, some psychological types appear more willing to
respond” (p.909).
Asecond important conclusion from thiswork isthestriking predominance of
theSJprofile among laychurch leaders, which again mayhaveitsstrengths andweak -
nesses. According toprevious theorists ofpsychological typeandpastoral character -
istics, SJleaders value formal, dignified, andpredictable worship services (Oswald 
&Kroeger, 1988). Thismeans thatcongregations ledbysuchindividuals willnot
undergo unnecessary andsignificant change, thatasense ofloyalty andbelonging will
likely befostered among theirchurch attendees, andthatprocedures andpolicies of
thechurch willbeclear. Ontheother hand, areas ofpotential difficulty forSJchurch 
leaders maybevulnerability toburnout, given theirstrict commitments torules, pro-
cedures, andobligations, andthisprofile maycause disaffection among those inthe
congregation whoquestion traditional church teachings orwhofindorder anddisci-
pline stifling.
Finally, thisprofile, which appears sostrongly among laychurch leaders, lies
incontrast totheprofiles ofordained professional clergy, where SJpreferences are
seeninsmaller percentages (31% ofmale clergy and29%offemale clergy) (Francis 
etal.,2007). Theauthors warn thatprofessional clergymen andclergywomen, given 
theireducations andlikely participation inprofessional development, maywishtotry
newandexploratory teachings orpractices intheirchurches, which maydisgruntle 
long-standing SJlaychurch leaders whoprefer amore conventional andpredictable 
church culture.
Thislineofresearch applying psychological typetheory tounderstand relation -
ships among clergy, churchgoers, andthegeneral public provides insight intothe
psychology ofreligion andhelps illuminate differences inattitudes andvalues among 
people indifferent areas ofchurch lifeandindifferent Christian denominations. In
thisway,thework mayalsohaveadirect impact onhowclergy, layclergy, andtheir
congregations relate tooneanother andtotheirwider non-churchgoing communities. 
A Critical Look at the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
Although theMyers–Briggs Type Indicator hasbeen usedfordecades incareer 
andcouples counseling, among other areas, there havebeen some critical analyses 
ofitthatareworth articulating hereforallstudents ofpersonality. TheMBTI isa
wildly popular tool,andTheMyers–Briggs Company (2018) purportedly generates 
$20million from overtwomillion people taking theMBTI every year(Stromberg &
Caswell, 2015). Because ofthis,Stein andSwan (2019) argue thattheMBTI may
shape thegeneral public’s ideaofwhat personality psychology ismore thananyother Final PDF to printer