The role of purpose in life and general self-efficacy in maintaining satisfaction in pastoral ministry under stressful conditions
Protais Bampoyiki, Giuseppe Crea
Noting that some priests are more prone to experience pastoral stress and burnout than others led us to analyze the factors involved in this phenomenon. This study presents the role of purpose in life and general self-efficacy in maintaining satisfaction in the ministry of priests when exposed to stressful conditions. This role was evaluated among 203 Catholic priests in Rwanda. Information regarding this role was obtained by exploring variables such as pastoral stress, emotional exhaustion, satisfaction in ministry, purpose in life, and general self-efficacy.
After performing several analyses on the variables, the data showed that high levels of purpose in life and general self-efficacy protect priests working under stressful conditions from emotional exhaustion, allowing them to be satisfied with their ministry. The same data also showed that low levels of these factors lead to increased emotional exhaustion and decreased satisfaction in ministry, thus facilitating the onset of burnout.
These results reveal that purpose in life and general self-efficacy can be selection criteria for priesthood candidates, crucial elements of priestly formation, and target factors of psychological interventions to prevent burnout in pastoral ministry.
Keywords
Purpose in life, general self-efficacy, emotional exhaustion, satisfaction in ministry, pastoral ministry.