Someone ought to put this NYTimes article on decision fatigue—the theory, backed up by some studies, that willpower is finite resource that depletes with each use—together with Deborah Pope-Lance’s lecture on clergy (mostly, sexual) misconduct. While she doesn’t go so far as to blame narcissism exclusively, she does lie the blame for clergy misconduct squarely at narcissism’s doorstep.
If someone were to do put together the two of them together, it might go something like this:
People in the ministry are asked to make a bewildering amount of very personal decisions every day, whether its how to respond to the loss of a child, dealing with a kerfuffle between congregants, or deciding what to preach to a congregation in financial crisis. In time, the energy to make good decisions will exhaust itself. The more exhausted the person in ministry, the more likely clergy misconduct becomes.
From the NYTimes article:
No matter how rational and high-minded you try to be, you can’t make decision after decision without paying a biological price. It’s different from ordinary physical fatigue — you’re not consciously aware of being tired — but you’re low on mental energy. The more choices you make throughout the day, the harder each one becomes for your brain, and eventually it looks for shortcuts…
Which isn’t to say that Pope-Lance’s contention that narcissism plays a role is wrong. But if decision fatigue is on target, someone who made a host of clergy-ish decisions all day is going to be more likely to badly screw up than someone who had a low-decision day, whatever their level of self-centeredness.1
Which theory is right, though, does make a difference as to what clergy should do to prevent themselves from engaging in misconduct. If narcissism is the chief culprit, then clergy should focus on engaging in self-containing spiritual disciplines, say, to rein in their needy selves. If decision fatigue is the primary culprit, they need to learn to say “No” regularly, take naps and snack breaks, and focus their time off on non-work activities that are decision-free.
Not that those are mutually exclusive options. But one theory—the narcissism theory—puts forward that the danger of clergy misconduct lies inherently in the soul of those in ministry and in what they do to tend to their soul. The other theory—decision fatigue—would put forward that it’s the structure of the job clergy are asked to do that’s the problem, the fact that congregations expect them to make more decisions on their behalf than anyone has a right to ask of a non-parent, a trend that’s radically accelerated over the last century or more as the job description of clergy has expanded and expanded.
Which theory—and which remedy—do you think is more flattering to a narcissistic soul?
Again from the NYTimes article:
[Psychologist Roy Baumeister's] studies show that people with the best self-control are the ones who structure their lives so as to conserve willpower. They don’t schedule endless back-to-back meetings. They avoid temptations like all-you-can-eat buffets, and they establish habits that eliminate the mental effort of making choices. Instead of deciding every morning whether or not to force themselves to exercise, they set up regular appointments to work out with a friend. Instead of counting on willpower to remain robust all day, they conserve it so that it’s available for emergencies and important decisions… “The best decision makers,” Baumeister says, “are the ones who know when not to trust themselves.”
(Little connections like the ones between these two articles are why I like catching up on blogs in Google Reader. (Hat tips to Tempo and Dan Harper for the links.) Image by Randy Willis. Used under Creative Commons license.)
- As an added bonus, decision fatigue also neatly explains clergy burnout too. Or, really, anyone’s burnout. [↩]