Toward Understanding and Measuring Affective Maturity in Catholic Seminarians

Abstract

This study examined the efficacy of St. John Vianney seminary’s formation program in developing greater affective maturity in its seminarians. It addresses why this issue is important to the field of psychology, provides context regarding Catholic priesthood and the formation (preparation) process that takes place in seminary for the lay and/or non-Catholic psychologist or mental health professional, and shares a psychologically-based definition for the construct of affective maturity. Findings and limitations highlighted the need to study this population, and important considerations for any future research that may involve a similar response style with Catholic seminarians. Furthermore, the discussion outlines the importance of continuing to build an empirical base to evaluate whether formation programs are meeting their intention to help their seminarians grow in affective maturity and other domains of human formation.