The Effects of Role Differentiation Among Clergy: Impact on Pastoral Burnout and Job Satisfaction

The present study investigated the impact of differentiation of self as an emotion regulation strategy on work and family conflict, ministerial job satisfaction, and burnout for pastors. Specifically, does differentiation of self provide a psychological resource for pastors coping with the experience of burnout as emotional exhaustion, given the unique social context of the pastor’s family and the role emotional labor has in causing burnout in social service professions? A unique aspect of the pastorate is the pastor’s family’s social context of living with the congregation. Due to this unique social context, work and family conflict were investigated as predictors of pastoral burnout. A sample of pastors (N = 164) was surveyed to investigate the impact of differentiation and job satisfaction on personal and work-related burnout. Findings suggest that differentiation of self provides a resource against the personal experience of burnout, while ministerial job satisfaction buffers pastors against work-related burnout.