Maturity in religious life (Malta) : adult development in E. Erikson and St. John of the Cross

Abstract

In this study it was hypothesised that lay people would show greater psychosocial and spiritual maturity than the religious group. Later writings of Erik Erikson on mature adulthood as well as the spiritual development outlined by St John of the Cross provided a conduit for the study. The MPD which measures Erikson's stages of psychosocial development was administered to religious males and females N=134 and to a control group of lay males and females N= 109. The results on the MPD showed that religious women scored lower on Trust and intimacy and higher on isolation than the control group. Conversely the male religious scored more favourably than the other three groups (religious women, lay women and lay males). In view of the limitations of the MPD and the alluring advantages of mixed research methods, this study went on to design a second questionnaire for religious only, N=183, with the purpose of tapping more directly into their day-to-day experiences. In addition individual interviews N=58, were carried out and two mixed group discussions. Three components were generated after subjecting the questionnaire to a component analysis. The interviews were subjected to a thematic analysis and the ensuing themes were classified according to the 3 components. Results showed clearly that both male and female religious indicate signs of dysfunctional life styles aggravated by a leadership that tends to be dictatorial and/or insecure. With very few exceptions, religious feel that the conditions they live in do not favour spiritual and psychosocial maturity.