RELIGIOUS THINKING PATTERNS AND SELF CONCEPT OF STUDENTS INVOLVED IN PROTESTANT CAMPUS ORGANIZATIONS (WILLIAM PERRY, INTELLECTUAL, ETHICAL DEVELOPMENT)

This study investigated the development of 40 undergraduate students involved in Protestant campus organizations (mainline versus evangelical) with respect to their religious thinking patterns as measured by William Perry's theory of intellectual and ethical development and self concept as evaluated by the Tennessee Self Concept Scale (TSCS). Additionally, the relationship between the forms of thinking and level of self concept was examined. The research was conducted at the University of Northern Colorado during Winter Quarter 1985.;Five of the six null hypotheses were retained when tested at the .10 level of significance. Only the second hypothesis was rejected indicating that there is a difference in rating on the Perry scheme as a function of student classification level.;The major conclusions were: (1) Protestant students are not rated very high on Perry's scheme because of their tendency to view the world from a right-wrong perspective. (2) More female Protestants than males tended to report conflicts between their religious perspectives and conducting their lives as students. (3) Individuals who think in dualistic terms are not necessarily lacking self-confidence or a positive self concept as assessed by the TSCS.;A nonparametric test was computed for the first three null hypotheses. These hypotheses stated that with respect to religious thinking patterns, there is no difference in rating on the Perry scheme as a function of the mainline/evangelical Protestant campus organization student membership, student classification level, or student gender. The fourth null hypothesis was tested by a one-way analysis of variance. This hypothesis stated that there is no difference in self concept as a function of the mainline/evangelical Protestant campus organization student membership. The Pearson product-moment correlation was computed for null Hypotheses 5 and 6. Hypothesis 5 stated that there is no relationship between religious thinking patterns as rated on the Perry scheme and student self concept. Hypothesis 6 stated that there is no difference in the correlation of rating on the Perry scheme and self concept as a function of student membership in the mainline/evangelical Protestant campus religious organizations.