New Study Profiles Hare Krishna Devote An 8-year study of American members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness has revealed that converts tend to share certain characteristics. According to researchers Tommy H. Poling and J. Frank Kenney, authors of The Hare Krishna Character Type: A Study of the Sensate Personality (published by Edward Mellen Press), these are 1) coming from an affluent family; 2) parental discord with remote or absent father; 3) a rejection of parental authority and lifestyle; 4) finding no reality or meaning in the material world, 5) previous drug use; 6) a "save the world" mentality; and 7) wanting to find a new identity in Eastern religion. Researchers also found that the majority of converts scored high on the sensing and judging dimensions of the Jungian oriented Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test. According to an independent review of this research, published in The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, members of intense relgious communities, regardless of denomination, tend to be sensing-judging types. This dispositional pattern favors a structured life style with a predictable daily schedule. For further information, contact Christopher Ross, Department of Religion and Culture, Wilfred Laurier University Waterloo N2L 3C5 Ontario, Canada. |