THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPIRITUAL MATURITY AND ANGER AMONG FILIPINO EXPATRIATES IN KOREA

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between spiritual maturity and anger among Filipino expatriates in Korea. This study emphasized the importance of spiritual maturity to decreased anger in people.
In this study the results of the statistical analysis shows that Hypothesis 2 and 3 were confirmed as predicted. Hypothesis 1 and 4 were confirmed as predicted but were not statistically significant. Finally, Hypothesis 5 was invalidated in contrast to the predicted outcome and was, therefore, not supported by the statistical analysis.
Hypothesis 1 predicted that the awareness of God would be negatively correlated with anger. However, even though there was a negative correlation between the awareness of God and anger, it was not statistically significant. Thus, hypothesis 1 was not supported and confirmed by statistical analysis. The people who are aware of God’s presence are able to have low level of anger as compared to those who are not aware of God’s presence. The reason is because people who commit their lives to God have faith in His ability to help them in living faithful lives. Such people depend upon the Holy Spirit whose presence, among other things include self-control one of the fruits the Spirit (Gal. 5:22). According to some researches, Filipino expatriates respondents may have the tendency to be reserved. Reserved people try to avoid expressing their emotions, and keep their distance in their relationship with people and God. That could possibly be the reason for the result. Furthermore, R. Vitaliano and S. J Gorospe, (2005) observe:
Filipinos norm of behavior is purely external, a split between the ideal Christian norm of morality and the actual Filipino norm of morality. He will put on the externals of Christian moral behavior in front of the authority figure while at the same time follow in “real life” an inconsistent moral behavior when the latter is “at a distance.” [Therefore], the problem for the Filipino individual is to be “aware” that the two inconsistent norms of morality are allowed to coexist in his personality and life.
Awareness of God as an aspect of spiritual maturity is also understood through reflective spirituality (Hall and Edwards, 1996). It involves becoming increasingly aware of how God is intricately involved in every aspect of one’s life. When individuals grow in their spiritual maturity, they become more aware that life and religious experience are interrelated. People who reflect on their relationship with God through meditation and other Christian disciplines grow in spiritual maturity as they seek to grow in Christ likeness. Christ likeness is the cultivation of behaviors that allow the Spirit of God to be seen in one’s life instead of the works of the flesh, which include uncontrolled anger.
Hypothesis 2 predicted that instability would be positively correlated with anger. The result showed a significant positive correlation between instability and anger at the level of p < .05. Therefore, hypothesis 2 was confirmed in the predicted direction by statistical analysis. Unstable people have difficulty separating their good and bad self-images. Therefore, they easily change their behaviors, emotions, and thoughts about God and other people. This also associated with their relationship with God.
In addition, unstable people are usually very impulsive. Their relationships and their emotions may often be characterized as being shallow. Something which is all good one day can be all bad the next, they don’t have a sense of continuity and consistency about people and things in their lives. They have a hard time experiencing an absent loved one as a loving presence in their minds. They also have difficulty seeking all of the actions taken by a person over a period of time as part of an integrated whole, and tend instead to analyze individual actions in an attempt to divine their individual meanings. They idealize potential caregivers or lovers at the first or second meeting, demand to spend a lot of time together, and share the most intimate details early in a relationship. However, they may switch quickly from idealizing other people to devaluing them. These symptoms are related to instability and consistent with this study’s result. (Borderline Personality Disorder, Google website).
Hypothesis 3 predicted that disappointment/defensiveness would positively correlate with anger. The result showed that there is a significant positive correlation between disappointment/defensiveness and anger at the level of p <.05. Therefore, hypothesis 3 was confirmed by statistical analysis. Disappointment/defensiveness means one’s disappointment towards others and also towards God. Angry people usually withdraw, attack themselves, and attack or avoid others. These are defense mechanisms. It means that angry people do not confront their realities.
Hypothesis 4 predicted that grandiosity would be positively correlated with anger. However, even though there is a positive correlation between grandiosity and anger, it is not statistically significant. So, hypothesis 4 was not supported and confirmed by statistical analysis and has no significant meaning. Grandiosity refers to those people who are preoccupied with grandiose fantasies. These people compare themselves with others, and think that they are better than others. The present study hypothesized that those people may have internal weaknesses, but they pretend that they are strong. Their grandiosity would be positively correlated with anger.
There may be several possible reasons. First, those people who have high grandiosity may not be aware of their emotions and do not reveal their true and real self. It means that they are showing a false self and repression may have influenced the result. According to Lewise (1995), even though the symptoms of borderline personalities and narcissistic personalities are different, they share an origin, or starting point, of symptoms (as cited in Nathanson, 1987). This means that they are rarely exhibited. A found possibility for the insignificant result of hypothesis 4 is that, this study used self-report questionnaires. It may have influenced the way the respondents revealed themselves. Therefore, all these things may have affected the result.
Among the five hypotheses, only hypothesis 5 is proved to be the opposite of the predicted direction. Hypothesis 5 predicted that anger is negatively correlated to realistic acceptance, but the result shows positive correlation. Its correlation is statistically significant at p <.05. According to some researches (as it was explained in hypothesis 1), reserved people have tendency to avoid expressing their emotions, and keep their distance in their relationship with people and God. Also it’s difficult for reserved people to acknowledge and accept both positive and negative feelings just as they are. The reason is that reserved people fair to offend others by expressing themselves openly. That could possibly be the reason for the result of hypothesis 5. Reserved people are on the one end of the continuum of the degree of expression of anger. On the other end are those who have realistic acceptance.
Realistic acceptance refers to one who can acknowledge and accept both positive and negative feelings together as they really are. In object relations theory such individuals are well integrated and psychologically healthy persons. This is considered as the norm of high spirituality, with awareness of God on this scale. Reality acceptance refers to one’s ability to integrate both good and bad emotions together and to the toleration of these feelings in their relationship with God and others (Hall and Edward 1996, 2002).
The multiple regression analysis shows that awareness independent variable is significant at .017 (T value -2.449). The result affirms that awareness of God is a strong predictor of anger. The important aspect of spiritual maturity is the awareness of God. This aspect includes an awareness of God’s communication and presence in one’s life. For God’s communication with people, Willard suggests six main ways in which people are addressed by God within the Bible: “(1) Phenomenon plus voice, (2) a supernatural messenger or angel, (3) dreams and visions, (4) an audible voice, (5) the human voice and (6) the human spirit or the still small voice” (as cited in Hall, 1996, p. 236). This view of the nature of communication with God is supported by the incident in Matthew 28:20, Jesus promised to be with His disciples to the very end of the age. The disciples of Jesus will be conscious of His presence, and will communicate with Him, though they would not see Him. It provides insight into the way that God communicates to His people when cannot be visible to them.
This result indicates that people who are aware of God’s presence have a personal and close relationship with God; and have a tendency to accept themselves as they are. Such people have low level of anger. Those who have awareness of God’s presence understand that God is always with them and they are acceptable in His eyes, thus giving them a sense of security.
Implications of the Findings
The findings of this study show that spiritual maturity and anger among Filipino expatriates in Seoul and in Yesan have a significant correlation. The findings of this study have important implications for Filipino expatriates, Christian counselors, pastors and church educators.
First, dealing with anger is important for enhancing spiritual maturity among Filipino expatriates. This study shows that anger is associated with one’s relationship with God and their awareness of God. This study implies that pastors and church educators should be aware of the psychological states of Filipino expatriates. They should help Filipinos expatriates grow spiritually by providing different religious practices like prayer, Bible study, praise, and regular church attendance as spiritual disciplines. Clinebell (1993), “the spirit has relations with mind, body, job, relationship, and the world” (p.23). In other words, spiritual maturity is closely related to psychological condition.
This study implies that there is a significant relationship between psychological functioning, anger and spiritual maturity. Benner (1998) states that the biblical perspective about human nature places an emphasis on unity within the human being. This means that the clinical field needs to be concerned with spiritual maturity as well as psychological maturity. As whole beings, human beings should be considered both spiritual and psychological. Therefore, counselors or psychotherapists who deal with clients that have anger problems need to consider their relationship with God, especially the instability of their relationship or possible disappointment/defensiveness towards God.
Second, this study has meaningful implications for daily life. Christianity is not simply a performance of ritual or gathering of religious knowledge, but is centered on building an actual relationship with God in every area of life. The Filipinos expatriates should focus on knowing God more deeply and then help other people to know God personally. By doing this they will build an intimate relationship with God in all areas of life and become representatives of God.
Third, it is believed that one’s awareness of God alone is not enough to lessen the level of anger. Therefore, when dealing with anger, Christian counselors need to focus more on the maturity of the individual’s relationships with God rather, than their awareness of God per se. For example, when a Christian counselor counsels a client, the counselor needs to explore the client’s relationship with God carefully.
Limitations and Recommendations
The limits of this study are as follows. First, the sample was limited to Filipino expatriates in Seoul and in Yesan only. This limitation affects the generalization of the results. More diverse samples should be selected for further study.
Second, this survey used self-reported measures regarding an individual’s perception of his/her spiritual maturity and anger. There is the possibility that respondents did not respond honestly. Also, this research was conducted in a church setting. It may have made respondents feel that they have to respond in an appropriate manner. Therefore, these variables could have affected the respondents’ responses.
Third, there is a further limitation regarding the instruments used for this research study. The Spiritual Assessment Inventory Scale and Anger Scale were both developed in a foreign country. Thus, cultural differences could have influenced the results. Therefore, a modified Filipino version of the SAI and CAS are recommended for further study. This suggestion is made because many Filipino expatriates do not have a good command of the English language. Thus, there may have had difficulty in understanding the questions. It would be better if these instruments were translated in their native language.
Fourth, this study only examined the correlation between spiritual maturity and anger. However other research studies are also recommended. For example, a study of the consequence or influence of anger would be beneficial.
In spite of these limitations, the findings of the research are a useful resource for future studies on this topic. It is hoped that the research and findings of this study will be used to assist the understanding and growth of spiritual maturity of Filipino expatriates in Korea. Also, it is hoped that the results of this thesis will be widely utilized in the fields of church ministry, church education and Christian counseling.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• 1. INTRODUCTION = 1
• Background and Importance of the Study = 1
• Purpose of the Study = 5
• Research Question = 6
• 2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND = 7
• Spiritual Maturity = 7
• Anger = 10
• Categories of Anger = 11
• Syndromes of Anger = 14
• Causes of Anger = 16
• Relation between Spiritual maturity and Anger = 19
• Biblical Understanding of Anger = 22
• Summary = 25
• 3. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHOD = 26
• Research Design = 26
• Research Hypotheses = 26
• Operational Definitions = 27
• Instruments = 29
• Spiritual Assessment Inventory (SAI = 29
• Clinical Anger Scale (CAS = 32
• Sample Selection and Data Collection = 33
• Method of Data Analysis = 34
• 4. FINDINGS = 35
• Demographic Data = 35
• Testing of Hypotheses = 38
• Multiple Regressions = 43
• 5. CONCLUSION = 45
• Discussion of the Findings = 45
• Implications of the Findings = 52
• Limitations and Recommendations = 54
• REFERENCE = 56
• APPENDIXES = 64
• APPENDIX A: Demographic Questionnaires = 64
• APPENDIX B: Spiritual Assessment Inventory = 65
• APPENDIX C: Feelings Inventory = 69
• APPENDIX D: Requesting Endorsement of the Research Project = 73