Village, Andrew ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2174-8822 (2023) Debated issues in the Church of England: The roles of theology and psychology. Journal of Empirical Theology.

Preview	Text Village Debated values in the Church of England JET ACCEPTED 14.8.23.pdf - Accepted Version Download (374kB) | Preview
	Text Village Debated values in the Church of England JET ACCEPTED 14.8.23.docx - Accepted Version Download (128kB)

Abstract

This paper tests whether or not psychological type preferences predicted the extent of liberal versus conservative attitudes towards a range of controversial moral issues among 3,515 clergy and laity from the Church of England who took part in the 2013 Church Times survey. Summated rating scales were produced from Likert items related to four different issues: same-sex relationships, the ordination of women, divorce and remarriage, and cohabitation. After controlling for sex, age, ordination status, education, church tradition, and Charismaticism, score on the liberal-conservative (LIBCON) seven-point scale was the strongest predictor of all four moral attitudes. After allowing for general theological stance, psychological type preferences for sensing over intuition and thinking over feeling were significantly associated with more conservative attitudes. The effects of psychological type preferences on moral attitudes varied between theological liberals and theological conservatives. For theological liberals, sensing types had slightly more conservative moral attitudes, on average, than did intuitive types, but there was no difference among theological conservatives. For theological conservatives, thinking types had slightly more conservative moral attitudes, on average, than did feeling types, but there was no difference among theological liberals. Implications for churches and for the influence of psychology on liberal versus conservatism are discussed.

Item Type:	Article
Status:	Published
DOI:	https://doi.org/10.1163/15709256-20231170
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology > BF698-698.9 Personality B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BR Christianity B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BV Practical Theology > BV4485-5099 Practical religion. The Christian life
School/Department:	School of Humanities
URI:	https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/8508

University Staff: Request a correction | RaY Editors: Update this record