p23
Leaders of the Boston Church of Christ felt that the story of
their amazing growth needed to be documented by a qualified church
growth researcher. They felt that such a study would be more credible
if conducted by someone not identified with the discipling movement.
I was given the assignment.
The initial data-gathering stage of this research was conducted
during a ten-day visit to the Boston Church of Christ in April of
1985. Leaders of the congregation cooperated fully. I was allowed to
sit in on all the leadership meetings. I observed training classes,
Bible Talks, Wednesday evening house church meetings, and Sunday
morning worship services. I interviewed leaders at all levels in the
congregation's organizational structure. I also interviewed over 100
new converts.
The initial stage of the research also included interviews with
leaders of other churches of Christ in the Boston area. These
interviews focused on relations between their congregations and the
Boston Church of Christ. In many of these congregations, there were
members who had belonged to the Boston Church of Christ before
leaving because of their dissatisfaction with the methods being
employed. I questioned these members about their experiences.
p24
METHOD
Considering all the criticism that has been directed against the
Boston Church of Christ, it is remarkable that they were as open as
they were in allowing this study. Their openness is strong evidence
that they believed that they had nothing to hide. They even permitted
me to conduct two different psychological studies. One study involved
the two newest converts in each of the 35 house churches that were
meeting at that time. Results and implications of that study will be
discussed in Chapter 3. The focus of the present chapter is on a much
larger psychological study that involved over 900 members of the
congregation.
A central element in the criticism that has been directed against the
Boston Church of Christ, other discipling churches, and the
discipling movement generally has been the charge that these churches
employ methods that produce unnatural and unhealthy personality
changes. Critics charge that discipling churches tend to make the
members over after the image of the group leader, the group norm, or
the group ideal. Supporters of the discipling movement deny that any
such personality changes are taking place. This, of course, is an
empirical question that calls for an empirical answer. There are many
mysteries associated with the conversion process that can never be
explained scientifically. This question, however, about the presence
or absence of personality changes can be answered by the appropriate
use of a personality inventory.
THE MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR
The personality assessment tool used in this study was the
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).1 The MBTI is one of the leading
non-psychiatric personality instruments in use today. Unlike tests
used to diagnose mental or emotional problems, the MBTI simply
indicates normal healthy differences.
The theory behind the MBTI was developed by Carl C. Jung.2 He
observed that there are two essential psychological processes. He
called these "perceiving" and "judging." Perceiving means becoming
aware. Judging means reaching a conclusion. Jung observed that there
are two opposite but equally valuable ways of perceiving. He called
these "sensing" and "intuition." He also observed that there are two
opposite but equally valuable ways of judging. He called these
"thinking" and "feeling." According to Jung, all people use all four
of these psychological functions, but not with equal skill. Each
person has a preferred way of perceiving--either sensing or
intuition. Each person also has a preferred way of judging--either
thinking or feeling.
The two ways of perceiving in Jung's theory are quite different.
Sensing is the process of becoming aware through the physical senses.
Those who prefer this way of perceiving and thus use and develop it
more tend to have good contact with reality and the ability to see
things exactly as they are. They are able to focus on details that
others might not notice. They tend to be very practical. Intuition,
on the other hand, is an immediate awareness that comes from memory
and associations rather than just from the physical senses. Those who
prefer this way of perceiving and thus use and develop it more tend
to focus on the big picture more than on details. They are able to
see meanings, implications, possibilities, and relationships that
others might not notice.
The two ways of judging in Jung's theory are also quite different.
Thinking is the process of deciding between the true and the false.
It is an objective, logical, critical, analytical process. What Jung
called "feeling," on the other hand, is the process of deciding
between the valued and the not-valued. It is a subjective, personal,
value-oriented process. Feeling is not emotionality.
p26
It means making value judgments. Both thinking and feeling are
rational processes.
In addition to a preference for one or the other of these two ways of
perceiving and one or the other of these two ways of judging, Jung
observed that people prefer one or the other of two opposite but
equally valuable attitudes. He called these "extraversion" and
"introversion." Extraverts use their most fully developed
psychological process (sensing, intuition, thinking, or feeling)
externally for dealing with the outside world. They deal with their
inner world through an auxiliary process-their second most fully
developed process. Introverts, on the other hand, use their most
fully developed psychological process internally for reflection and
deal with the outside world through their auxiliary or second most
fully developed process. Extraverts receive energy from the outside
world. They get energy from being with people. Introverts may use
their energies with people, but they get their energy from within.
Everyone extraverts part of the time and introverts part of the time.
Jung observed, however, that people have a preference for one or the
other of these attitudes.
Isabel Myers and her mother, Kathrine Briggs, elaborated on Jung's
writings to develop one other important distinction. They observed
that some people prefer to deal with the world through a judging
process (either thinking or feeling), while others prefer to deal
with the world through a perception process (either sensing or
intuition). They noticed that those who prefer to extravert a judging
process tend to be highly organized while those who prefer to
extravert a perception process tend to be adaptable.
There are 16 different psychological types in Jung's theory as
elaborated by Kathrine Briggs and Isabel Myers. All 16 of these types
are good. Each has its own unique set of special gifts. There are no
bad types-no
p27
types that are less desirable than others. When the MBTI identifies a
person's preferences and thus a person's psychological type, what is
indicated are simply normal healthy differences.
Each of the 16 MBTI types is identified by a four-letter code. The
first letter, either "E" or "I," tells whether a person prefers an
extraverted or an introverted attitude. The second letter, either "S"
or "N," tells whether the person prefers sensing or intuition as a
way of perceiving (the letter "N" is used for intuition because the
letter "I" was already used for introversion). The third letter of
the psychological type code, either "T" or "F," tells whether the
person prefers thinking or feeling as a way of judging. The final
letter, either "J" or "P," tells whether the person prefers a judging
or a perceiving orientation to the outside world-whether the person
prefers to deal with the external world through the preferred way of
judging (either thinking or feeling) or the preferred way of
perceiving (either sensing or intuition).
CHANGES IN PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPE SCORES
A person's true psychological type is inborn, according to Jung. Some
of the preferences can be observed very early in life. A person's
true type does not change. Healthy growth, maturation, and
development take place within a person's true type. Changes in
psychological type do not indicate normal healthy growth. Such
changes indicate some pressure in the environment that causes people
to deny their true type and try to become like someone else.
It is not healthy to pressure a person to deny his or her true type
and become a copy of someone else. Trying to change a person from one
psychological type to another is like spanking a child for using the
left hand. One does not produce good right-handed people that way.
One produces very poor right-handed people
p28
who are very frustrated. It would be far better to help the
left-handed child develop the skill of using the left hand.
In Gifts Differing, as Isabel and Peter Myers were discussing
how children develop best, they wrote,
The finest examples of type development result when children's
immediate environment encourages their native capacities. However,
when an environment squarely conflicting with their capacities forces
children to depend on unnatural processes or attitudes, the result is
a falsification of type, which robs its victims of their real selves
and makes them into inferior, frustrated copies of other
people.3
In the MBTI Manual, Mary McCaulley said,
Isabel Myers believed that type preferences were inborn, but
that environmental pressures were important in determining the
likelihood of optimum type development. . Myers wrote that when
external influences cause falsification of type, emotional
difficulties will follow. It is for this reason that this Manual
cautions counselors to check carefully with their clients and with
their own observations of the client for evidence of type
falsification. This is particularly important in counseling because a
goal of treatment is to identify and strengthen the inherent
preferences, not to continue the falsification process.4
In Psychological Types, Carl Jung wrote,
As a rule, whenever such a falsification of type takes place as
a result of external influences, the individual becomes neurotic
later.......A reversal of type often proves exceedingly harmful to
the physiological well-being of the organism, often provoking an
acute state of exhaustion.5
p29
These quotations should be enough to emphasize the point that
changing psychological type scores do not indicate normal healthy
development, but may indicate a dangerous falsification of type.
Misguided religious influences could be an environmental influence
causing people to deny their true type and try to become a copy of
someone else. Martin Buber tells the story of a rabbi who tried all
his life to become another Moses, but he never succeeded. Finally he
stood before God in judgment and God said, "You are not condemned for
your failure to become another Moses; you are condemned for your
failure to become yourself."
Christianity, of course, requires one kind of change in personality.
Christians are being made over after the image of Jesus Christ. His
divine nature, however, is reflected in individuals whose gifts
differ. Christian growth does not require falsification of type.
Indeed, spiritual growth is hindered by any effort to deny one's true
type and become a copy of someone else.
The MBTI can be administered with three different sets of
instructions as a way of checking for falsification of type. Such
falsification of type would be indicated by changes in psychological
type scores. When a family counselor, for example, has reason to
suspect that a teenager is being pressured to become a copy of a
father or mother, the counselor may have that teenager take the MBTI
three times. The first time the instructions are, "Answer the
questions the way you think you would have five years ago." The
second time the instructions are, "Answer the questions according to
the way you think, feel, and act at the present time." The third time
the instructions are, "Answer the questions the way you think you
will answer them five years from now." If the results indicate that
the teenager's psychological type scores are changing and becoming
more and more like that of a parent, that
p30
result could indicate an unhealthy pressure on that teenager to
become a copy of that parent. Such a result would suggest the
direction the treatment of that family ought to take.
A similar approach was taken in the study of the Boston Church of
Christ. Around 900 members of that congregation took the MBTI. They
were asked to answer the questions three times. One time the members
were told to answer the questions the way they think they would have
before their conversion-or five years ago for the few who had been
members that long. The members were also told to answer the questIons
the way they would at that present time. Finally, they were told to
answer the questions the way they think they will answer them after
they have been discipled for five more years.
The instructions made it clear that there are no "right" or "wrong"
answers and no "good" or "bad" outcomes--just indications of normal
healthy differences. The instructions stated clearly that no one was
telling them that their answers ought to change. The instructions
said that the purpose of the study was simply to find out if there
were any changes and, if so, what those changes might indicate.
This kind of group application involving a single psychological
instrument is not the approach a clinical psychologist or
psychiatrist would take in diagnosing psychological problems of an
individual. Several psychological instruments would be used and there
would be extensive counseling before any diagnosis would be made if
the focus were on an individual. The purpose in this study, however,
was not to diagnose psychological problems of any individual. What
was being investigated in this research was simply the overall group
pattern. The focus was not on any individual, but on the dynamics of
the group.
It should also be understood that this was not a
p31
longitudinal study that determined the psychological type of people
at three different times. What was indicated was the present
psychological type manifested by these people, their perception of
their past psychological type, and their perception of their future
psychological type. However, any significant changes in the pattern
of these perceptions would indicate some kind of group pressure. A
high degree of change and a convergence in a single type would be
convincing proof that the Boston Church of Christ has some kind of
group dynamic operating that tends to produce conformity to the group
norm.
If the supporters of the discipling approach had been correct in
their claim that no personality changes were resulting from their
methods, this study would have found no statistically significant
changes in psychological type scores. That would have cleared the
Boston Church of Christ of all charges on this matter. The results
would have given them a clean bill of health. For such results to be
credible, however, it was essential that the leaders and members of
the congregation not be told that changes in psychological type
scores do not indicate healthy growth. If they had been given that
information and the results showed no statistically significant
changes in psychological type scores, critics of the discipling
approach would not have accepted the results. They would have claimed
that the results were biased by the members knowing in advance that
their answers were not supposed to change.
The MBTI forms were passed out in Wednesday evening house church
meetings. Some members were busy with retreats that weekend and did
not have time to take part in the study. No pressure was put on
anyone to take part. However, around two-thirds of the members did
take part. There were 835 members who filled out all three forms. A
few others filled out only one or two. Among the males, 378 filled
out the past
p32
form, 402 filled out the present form, and 388 filled out the future
form. Among the females, 471 filled out the past form, 478 filled out
the present form, and 460 filled out the future form.
COMPARATIVE STUDIES
Before discussing the results of this study in the Boston Church of
Christ, it is necessary first to discuss the results of some
comparative studies. It would not mean anything to find a pattern of
changing psychological type scores in the Boston Church of Christ if
similar studies in other churches of Christ produced the same
results.
The MBTI was administered to 304 members of churches of Christ that
are not a part of the discipling movement. There were 150 females and
154 males in this sample. They were given the same past, present, and
future instructions as those used in the study of the Boston Church
of Christ. Not a single one of these individuals changed on all four
of the MBTI scales or even on three of them. Three people changed on
two of the scales and 33 changed on one of the scales. All 36 who
showed any change at all in MBTI scores had very low preference
scores on the scales involved in the changing scores. This level of
change is about what one would expect under these conditions from
random test error. The MBTI, after all, is not a perfect indicator.
In this comparative study, however, there was no observable pattern
in the few changes that took place. Those who changed from Extravert
to Introvert, Sensor to Intuitor Thinker to Feeler, or Judger to
Perceiver were balanced by others changing in the opposite direction.
The overall distribution did not change.
Another comparative study was completed just recently using this same
methodology in studies of 30 members each in five local congregations
representing five mainline denominations. These studies were con-
p33
ducted in Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, and Presbyterian
churches. Results were the same as those observed in the study of
churches of Christ that are not identified with the discipling
movement. There were no significant changes in psychological type
scores. There was no pattern in the few changes that were observed.
Overall distributions did not change.
This is what one would expect since mainline denominations typically
recognize and respect individual differences. They value this
diversity. They encourage individuals to become what they are
uniquely capable of becoming and not mere copies of someone else.
This is not the case, however, with certain manipulative sects. It is
conformity that they value, not diversity. They tend to make people
over after the image of a group leader, the group norm, or what the
group regards as the ideal personality. Such pressure to falsify type
is one of the reasons for the psychological damage often experienced
by their members. They are made to feel guilty for being what they
are and inferior for not being what the group wants them to be. As
the gap between the real self and the pretended self grows larger and
larger, the self esteem of these members sinks lower and lower. They
become frustrated and depressed. They may develop serious emotional
problems. They may become so dependent on the control exercised by
their leaders that they engage in irrational behavior.
With this characteristic of manipulative sects in mind, another
comparative study was done. This study used the same past, present,
and future instructions with the MBTI to study 30 members each in six
local groups representing six manipulative sects. Groups included in
this study were: the Church of Scientology, the Hari Krishnas,
Maranatha, the Children of God, the Unification Church ("Moonies"),
and the Way. Results of this study showed a high level of change in
psychological
p34
type scores. Results also showed a clear pattern in the observed
changes. The past distributions tend to be normal. The present and
future distributions deviate increasingly from the normal
distribution. The changes in these six groups showed a clear
convergence in a single type. In three of the groups the movement was
toward ESFJ. Two moved toward ESTJ. One moved toward ENFJ. One of the
reasons the publication of this book has been delayed so long is that
this comparative study of manipulative sects was not completed until
the summer of 1987.
RESULTS
An appendix at the back of this book discusses all the details of
this study with all the appropriate statistical tables. What is
discussed here are simply the major conclusions of the study in the
Boston Church of Christ.
The first result of this study to be discussed is the observation
that a great majority of the members of the Boston Church of
Christ changed psychological type scores in the past, present, and
future versions of the MBTI. Among the 835 individuals who
took all three forms of the MBTI, less than five percent showed no
change at all and less than seven percent had the same past and
future type. Among the rest, a comparison of past and future types
showed that almost 20 percent changed on one MBTI scale, 35 percent
changed on two, over 26 percent changed on three, and over 12 percent
changed on all four scales, thus experiencing a total reversal of
type. The mean number of scale changes was 2.18 among the 835 members
of the Boston Church of Christ who took all three forms of the MBTI.
The present distribution was significantly different from the past
distribution. The difference between past and future type
distributions was highly significant.
p35
A second result of this study that must be noticed is that the
observed changes in psychological type scores were not random since
there was a clear convergence in a single type. Ten of the 16
types show a steady decline in the percentage who came out as that
type in the past, present, and future versions of the MBTI. Three
transitional types show an increase from past to present and then a
sharp decline in the future outcomes. There were three popular types
in this study: ESFJ, ESTJ, and ENFJ. There was a steady increase in
the percentage who came out with these three type indications in the
past, present, and future results Percentages are figured separately
for males and females since male and female distributions differ on
the thinking-feeling scale. In the past, present, and future results,
the percentage of males who came out ESFJ went from 2.58 to 26.37
to
to 54.23 while the percentages for females went from 5.10 to 34.31 to
53.48. ESTJs differ from ESFJs only on the thinking-feeling scale.
The percentage of males who scored as ESTJ went from 7.73 to 15.92 to
20.37 while the percentages for females went from 4.67 to 13.81 to
23.04. ENFJs differ from ESFJs only on the sensing-intuition scale.
The percentages of males who came out ENFJ went from 1.29 to 4.73 to
14.81, while the percentages for females went from 0.64 to 3.97 to 12
17.
There was a clear pattern of changing from introversion to
extraversion, from intuition to sensing, from thinking to feeling,
and from perceiving to judging. In the past, present, and future
results, the percentage of males with a preference for extraversion
went from 33 to 60 to 94 while the percentages for females went from
38 to 64 to 95. The percentage of males who had a preference for
sensing perception went from 66 to 78 to 80 while the percentage for
females went from 66 to 85 and then to 82. The percentage of
males
p36
preference for feeling judgment went from 41 to 65 to 76 while
percentages for females went from 53 to 73 and then to 71. The
percentage of males with a preference for a judging orientation went
from 37 to 80 to 96 while percentages for females went from 34 to 80
to 95.
Preferences for extraversion, sensing, feeling, and judging tended to
remain stable while the opposite preferences for introversion,
intuition, thinking, and perceiving tended to change. Among those who
started as extraverts, 97 percent remained unchanged, but 95 percent
of those who started as introverts changed into extraverts. Among
those who started with a preference for sensing perception, 82
percent remain unchanged, but 78 percent of those who started with a
preference for intuition changed. Among those who started with a
preference for feeling judgment, 72 percent remained unchanged, but
74 percent of those who started with a preference for thinking
changed. Among those who started with a preference for a judging
orientation, 97 percent remained unchanged, but 95 percent of those
who started with a preference for a perceiving orientation changed.
There was a highly significant movement away from preferences for
introversion, intuition, thinking, and perceiving and toward
extraversion, sensing, feeling, and judging.
Those who were the least likely to change were those who already were
ESFJs. They averaged only 0.32 changes on the four MBTI scales. Those
who were the most likely to change were those who started as the
opposite type, INTP. They averaged 3.55 changes on the four scales.
There was a strong positive correlation between the number of
differences between a type and the ESFJ model, on the one hand, and
the mean number of changes on the four MBTI scales on the other hand.
The more a person differed from the ESFJ model, the more likely that
person was to change on more of the MBTI scales.
p37
What all of this means is that the Boston Church of Christ is
producing in its members the very same pattern of unhealthy
personality change that is observed in studies of well-known
manipulative sects. Whatever they are doing that produces this
pattern needs to be changed.
The six manipulative sects that showed the same pattern as was
observed in the study of the Boston Church of Christ are usually
called "cults." I do not find that term to be especially useful. Many
of the writers who have identified the characteristics of cults
reflect an anti-religious, humanistic bias. By most of their
definitions, the New Testament church would be called a "cult,"
churches of Christ today would be called "cults," and most of the
conservative denominations would be called "cults." But those six
groups that I have chosen to call "manipulative sects" are clearly
producing unnatural and unhealthy personality changes.
The data in this study of the Boston Church of Christ does not prove
that any certain individual has actually changed his or her
personality in an unhealthy way. The data, however, does prove that
there is a group dynamic operating in that congregation that
influences members to change their personalities to conform to the
group norm. To the extent that the members respond to that group
pressure, the observed changes in psychological type scores are
likely to become (or have already become)
p38
actual changes in the personality that is manifested.
This study that was conducted in the Boston Church of Christ has not
been conducted in other discipling churches. However, since other
discipling churches do the same things that the Boston Church does,
it is extremely unlikely that similar studies in other discipling
churches would find different results.
1.Isabel Myers and Kathrine Briggs, The Myers-Briggs Type
Indicator (Palo Alto, California: Consulting Psychologists Press,
1976).
2.Carl C. Jung, Psychological Types (London: Keegan Paul,
1923).
3..Isabel Myers and Peter U. Myers, Gifts Differing (Palo
Alto, California: Consulting Psychologists Press, 1980), p. 189.
4.Isabel Myers and Mary McCaulley, The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Manual (Palo Alto, California: Consulting Psychologists Press,
1985), p. 64.
5.Jung, p. 415.
Note: The author is thoroughly trained in the use of the MBTI. In
1983 he won the Isabel Briggs Myers Memorial Award for outstanding
research in the study of psychological type theory. He served as
treasurer of the Association for Psychological Type from 1983 through
1987. He is a member of the faculty of the MBTI training program
conducted by the Association for Psychological Type to train
professional users of the MBTI. He designed and tested a new
self-scoring version of the MBTI now being published by Consulting
Psychologists Press. In 1987 the author was elected as the next
president of the Association for Psychological Type. Some of his
type-related publications are listed below.
"The Relationship between True Type and Reported Type," with Allen L.
Hammer, Journal of Psychological Type (in press).
"Implications of Communication Style Research for Psychological Type
Theory" Research in Psychological Type 6 (1983): 1-20.
"Communication Style Preferences and Adjustments as an Approach for
Studying Effects of Similarity in Psychological Type," Research in
Psychological Type 5 (1982):30-48.
In addition to these publications, the author has presented eleven
papers at regional and national conferences of the Association for
Psychological Type and the Speech Communication Association reporting
on his type related research.
End of Chapter 2
Link to Chapter 3