US Catholic priests' evaluation of bishops and qualities of respectful leadership

Abstract

The mental health of subordinates is affected by supervisors. Using the qualities of respectful leadership developed by some researchers, randomly sampled Catholic priests in the US used an eight-point scale (0 = lowest, 7 = highest) to consider the qualities of respectful leadership used by their own bishop and bishops in general. Mean scores of respectful leadership qualities for bishops in general and respondents' specific bishops were moderate. Using paired-t-tests and adopting the Bonferroni technique for adjusting the level of significance (p≤ .002), there were significant differences in 16 of 28 of the respondents' ratings of bishops in general compared to their specific bishop. Overall, respondents offered slightly more favourable ratings for their own bishops. However, priest-respondents seemingly find their leaders with leadership, character, and moral flaws. Mental health implications are considered.

Keywords:

• respect
• leadership
• Catholic priests
• Catholic bishops

Notes

Note: *p ≤ .002