Testing the Balanced Affect Model of Clergy Work-Related Psychological Health: Replication Among Anglican Clergy in Wales

Drawing on the classic model of balanced affect, the Francis Burnout Inventory (FBI) conceptualised good work-related psychological health among clergy in terms of negative affect being balanced by positive affect. In the FBI negative affect is assessed by the Scale of Emotional Exhaustion in Ministry (SEEM) and positive affect is assessed by the Satisfaction in Ministry Scale (SIMS). In support of the idea of balanced affect, previous work had shown a significant interaction between the effects of SEEM and SIMS scores in predicting individual differences as an independent measure of burnout. The present study extends previous research among a sample of 358 Anglican priests in Wales who completed the FBI together with an index of thoughts of leaving ministry as an independent measure of burnout. These data found a significant interaction between the effects of SEEM and SIMS scores confirming that the mitigating effects of satisfaction in ministry on thoughts of leaving ministry increased with increasing levels of negative affect.