Psychological type functions and biblical scholarship: an empirical enquiry among members of the Society of Biblical Literature

Abstract

Psychological type theory would suggest that the two perceiving functions (sensing and intuition) and the two judging functions (thinking and feeling) shape the way that readers engage with biblical texts. Previous studies of churchgoers have demonstrated associations between psychological function preferences and preferences for interpretation. Building on this work, the current study examines whether biblical scholars engage with texts in ways that are predicted by their psychological function preferences. A sample of 338 members of the Society of Biblical Literature completed an online survey that measured their subject disciplines and methods of study, four psychological functions and four corresponding text-handling styles. Scholars who used “postmodern” methods such as reader response, ideological criticism or cultural studies were more likely to prefer intuition to sensing and feeling to thinking. There were significant correlations between text-handling styles and psychological type preferences, suggesting that psychological function has some influence on how biblical scholars perceive and evaluate texts.

Keywords:

• biblical interpretation
• personality
• psychological type
• SBL
• scholarship

Acknowledgements

I thank the board of the Society of Biblical Literature for permission to advertise the survey in the society's newsletter, and all those colleagues who took time to complete the survey.

Notes

1. Those dimensions measured by the type scales but not used in this analysis were orientation (extraversion, E, versus introversion, I) and attitude towards the outer world (judging, J, versus perceiving, P).