| The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of psychosexual development on faith development. Specifically, it was hypothesized that less adequate levels of oedipal resolution would be related to lower levels of faith development and that more adequate levels of oedipal resolution would be related to higher levels of faith development. The locus of control construct, while not related to oedipal resolution in the literature, was examined to determine how it relates to faith development. It was hypothesized that an internal locus of control would be associated with higher levels of faith development and that external locus of control would be associated with higher levels of faith development.; This study investigated these hypotheses with a sample of 83 women and 50 men from the West of Ireland. The Rorschach was used to measure oedipal resolution, the Faith Stage Scale to measure stage of faith development, and the Rotter Locus of Control Scale to measure locus of control.; Both hypotheses were confirmed by this study. The study found that controlling for other variables, oedipal resolution accounted for 13% of the variance shared with faith development. Similarly, this study found that locus of control, controlling for other variables, accounted for 22% of the variance shared with faith development.; It was concluded that faith development theory has the potential to enhance the understanding of human development as well as offer a framework to clinicians to intervene effectively with religiously oriented clients. |
