Funkcjonowanie psychospołeczne a nawrócenie religijne

Authors:

• Jacek Soiński

Abstract

In the first part the author presents ideas explaining the reasons for religious conversion, emphasizing psychosocial factors. Next, he shows the results of research concerning the dimensions of personality and biographical factors, which are related to the level of socialization of religiously converted people. 178 converted adults who have been examined (84 men and 94 women) are currently under Christian formation in Catholic religious communities and monasteries. The research involved using such tools as Adjective Check List (ACL) by H. B. Gough and A. B. Heilbrun, Antonovsky's 29-item Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-29), NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) by P. Costa and R. McCrae and The Questionnaire of Emotional Control by J. Brzeziński. With the use of the ACL Test and the Varimax method, six factors revealing the structure of personality of the converted have been identified: I. potency, II. assertiveness, III. sociability, IV. dissatisfaction, V. individuality and VI. constriction. Then, examining the third factor using the Quick Cluster method, three communities of people with different levels of sociability have been described. The article compares people from the communities of the lowest and the highest levels of sociability. The results of the analysis allow to conclude that in the process of conversion interpersonal factors (relationships with family or members of religious groups) played a more important role than personality. Their meaning was more significant for people with the lowest level of sociability. They are the ones who feel the deficiency of social needs and attitudes much stronger. These unsatisfied needs drove them to conversion more strongly but they also made theirfunctioning after conversion more difficult in terms of emotions, interpersonal relations and spiritual development.