Abstract
In 1989 the results of a survey on laity attitudes toward the traditional deadly sins and the schedule of virtues formulated by Erik H. Erikson were published in Pastoral Psychology. This study reports the results of a similar survey conducted ten years later. While the results were generally similar to the earlier study, there were some changes in the way respondents ranked the sins and virtues, indicated their personal identification with them, and viewed their gender-relatedness. The major conclusions drawn from comparison of the 1999 with the 1989 surveys is that men have become more conscious of the role of melancholy in their lives, and exhibit somewhat less hopefulness than ten years ago; that both men and women place greater emphasis on the importance of fidelity in their lives; that women are somewhat less oriented to the virtue of care traditionally ascribed to them, whereas men exhibit greater orientation to care; and that women emphasize competence while men emphasize purpose.
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Capps, D., Cole, A.H. The Deadly Sins and Saving Virtues: How They Are Viewed Today by Laity. Pastoral Psychology 48, 359–376 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022084420162
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022084420162