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Is fit it? the relationship between church/synagogue member fit and the psychosocial competence of the member
Author(s) -
Pargament Kenneth I.,
Tyler Forrest B.,
Steele Robert E.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6629(197907)7:3<243::aid-jcop2290070308>3.0.co;2-g
Subject(s) - psychosocial , competence (human resources) , psychology , coping (psychology) , social psychology , protestantism , clinical psychology , theology , psychotherapist , philosophy
The relationship between the fit of the church/synagogue member with his/her congregation and the psychosocial competence of the member was studied. The religious leader from each of 12 congregations (four Jewish, four Protestant, and four Roman Catholic) nominated approximately six members who fit well within the congregation (central members) and six members who fit less well (peripheral members) according to a set of guidelines. One hundred thirty‐three (133) congregation members, 77 central and 56 peripheral, participated. Central and peripheral members displayed significantly different psychosocial competence characteristics. However, neither central nor peripheral members manifested uniformly greater effectiveness across all of the competence scales. Specifically, central members indicated greater satisfaction with their congregation, a greater sense of control by God, and a lower level of efficacy, coping skills, and sense of control by chance. The findings suggest to change agents that the process of helping an individual fit within a system may be associated with negative as well as positive consequences for his/her effective functioning. This view conflicts with the notion that fit corresponds to psychological well‐being, and points to the importance of studying the relationship between fit and multidimensional criteria of psychosocial competence across a variety of settings.