The perception of gospel values and its relationship to the motivation for religious vocation and apostolic effectiveness among Korean women religious

• Main Author: Yeom, Jaeyoung, CJ
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2004
• Subjects: Vocation (in religious orders, congregations, etc.)—Psychology; Monastic and religious life of women—Korea (South); Values—Religious aspects; Motivation (Psychology)—Religious aspects; Religious Education
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/6954
• Institution: De La Salle University

The present study aimed to assess Korean women religious’ perception of gospel values and to explore its relationship to the motivation for religious vocation and to apostolic effectiveness. It also addressed the presence of differences with regard to these three aspects at different stages of religious life. A total of 233 women religious from 17 congregations participated in the research. The removal of 75 cases because of missing data or non-compliance, however, reduced the respondents to a total of 158. The target population consisted of 89 religious who had already spent 5 to 20 years since their perpetual religious vows while the comparison group consisted of 69 religious preparing for their perpetual vows. Dolphin’s quasi-projective Gospel-summary was used to assess the respondents’ perception of Gospel values. The Religious Motivation Test (RMT) and the Religious Sentence Completion Test (RSCT) were used to measure their motivation for religious vocation, while the Dedication to Religious Vocation Scale (DRVS) was used to evaluate their apostolic effectiveness. The research results showed an overall poverty in the religious’ perception of Jesus Christ and Gospel values, as revealed through their overall omissions of Gospelsummary variables both among the cost-of-discipleship variables and also among the experience-of-discipleship variables. Selectivity in the perception of Gospel values appeared in two ways, namely, through the neglect of the more demanding sayings or examples of Jesus Christ and through a partial focus on the more attractive, consoling and rewarding aspects of the Gospel message. On the basis of these findings, the iv present study tried to understand more deeply the lived realities of these religious, such as unclear or weak identity, dissatisfaction with the apostolate, concern for efficiency over effectiveness, and so on. The present study also tried to explain foresaid overall poverty and selectivity in the perception of Gospel values on the basis of the significant correlations that emerged from the research results between the perception of Gospel values and the motivation for religious vocation. Even though the present study failed to confirm a significant correlation between the perception of Gospel values and apostolic effectiveness, it explored the relationship between those two areas through the mediation of the motivation for religious vocation. Finally, the present study showed a decrease in the perception of Gospel values and in apostolic effectiveness after perpetual religious vows through its discovery of a significant difference between the target population, that is, those who had already spent 5 to 20 years since their perpetual religious vows, and the comparison group consisting of religious preparing for their perpetual vows. The present study affirmed the usefulness of all the instruments that were used for the research, namely, the Gospel-summary, the Religious Motivation Test, the Religious Sentence Completion Test and the Dedication to Religious Vocation Scale. It also showed that these instruments became more useful when they were examined in the light of their dynamic interaction. Moreover, the present study also ascertained the usefulness of these instruments in the Korean context.