Relationship Between Motivation and Commitment of Seminarians

Running head: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MOTIVATION AND COMMITMENT 1
Relationship between Motivation of Seminarians and
Their Commitment to the Priesthood
Albert J. Ignacio
Ateneo de Manila University
Reynold A. Sombolayuk
Ateneo de Manila University

ABSTRACT
Vocation of priesthood is influenced by many factors including motivation and
commitment. Many studies from different fields showed the significant relationship between
the two. This study was to investigate the relationship between motivation and commitment
of the seminarians. There were five variables that were examined i.e. intrinsic motivation,
extrinsic motivation, affective commitment, continuence commitment, and normative
commitment. Adapted from several studies, a 58 item questionnaire printed on an A4 sheet of
paper was developed to measure the variables. Using survey, data from 64 seminarians, who
were studying theology, were collected. A series of Pearson Product Moment of Correlation
Coefficients revealed that intrinsic motivation and affective commitment were significantly
related. Likewise, there were significant relationship between extrinsic motivation and
continuance commitment. Whereas simple linear regressions showed that affective
commitment was predicted by intrinsic motivation, and continuance commitment was
predicted by extrinsic motivation. Implication and limitation of the findings were discussed.
Key words: vocation; motivation; commitment; seminarians; priesthood

Relationship between Motivation of Seminarians and
Their Commitment to the Priesthood
Priesthood is a special ministry in the catholic church. Priests are men who received
sacred ordination and mission from the bishops to promote the service of Christ as the
Teacher, Priest and King (Paul VI, 1965b). Compared to other jobs, it is quite unique because
it deals with spiritual things like eternal salvation, prayer, and sins. Sharing the ministry of
Jesus Christ, priests can preach the Gospel, preside at mass, anoint the sick, absolve sinners,
proclaim and explain the Gospel, give blessings, and lead the ecclesial community.
Therefore, Catholic priesthood is absolutely needed to continue the work of Christ's
redemption, the existence of the Catholic Church, and the moral survival of the human race
(Hardon, 1998).
According to Vatican statistics (2017), the number of Catholics worldwide has
increased and reached 1.285 million. Yet, the total number of priests around the world was
415,656. It means that on average one priest leads around 3000 people. It is even worse when
going to America and Africa where every priest has to minister more than 5,000 people. This
is not a good ratio in an effective pastoral ministry. Unfortunately, this situation will not
change much in the future when seeing the number of candidates for the priesthood who are
studying philosophy and theology was decreasing to 116,843 men from 116,939 in the
previous year, and 118,251 in the other year (Vatican, 2017). This situation where there is a
shortage of priests has been realized and mentioned in the news (Mickens, 2015; Uy, 2013).
Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church, knew this situation and addressed some
solutions, which one of them was vocation (Scanlon, 2017).
Vocation to the priesthood is a call from God to take part in the priesthood of Christ
and to be united with Him to serve the Church with the word and the grace of God
(Congregation for Clergy, 2016). It is a gift of divine grace that is processed, developed, and
matured in one’s life until he becomes aware of it, and then seals it in sacramental ordination.
Hence, even there is a high need of priests, the bishops cannot just ordain anybody. The
person must have vocation to the priesthood. Aside from that, priests are also bound to live
celibacy, detach from property, and obey their superiors (Paul VI, 1965b). Such kind of life is
not easy and attractive for many people especially young men. Fortunately, In Africa and
Asia, young men who feel the call are still many. In fact, according to Vatican statistics
(2017), there is an increase by 30.9% in Africa and 29 .4% in Asia.
Though they feel the call, however, it is not easy to distinguish between people who
have vocation and who do not. It takes almost ten years to come to the decision that a person
is called or not. Seminary is a place where these men are formed, educated, and selected. It is
a place where they are prepared for the ministry of the word of God, for the ministry of
worship and of sanctification, and for the ministry of the parish (Paul VI, 1965a). Since the
place of formation is called seminary, these men are usually called seminarian and priests
who accompany and train them are called formator.
Vocation to the priesthood is a gift from God to a person (Congregation for the
Clergy, 2016). Two aspects of vocation are motivation and commitment (Francis, 2015).
Those who have vocation usually have also commitment and high motivation. This study will
investigate the relationship between motivation and commitment. It will also examine
whether one’s motivation can predict his commitment. It is hope that the findings can
contribute to the formation in the seminary.
Theory of Motivation
Motivation is the urge that drives and affects people’s behavior. A person is called
motivated if he is moved to do something (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Before, motivation was
considered as meeting the needs satisfaction i.e. Maslow, but current research sees it as a
force to accomplish personal and organizational goals (Khan & Iqbal, 2013). Environment
and culture influence the different amounts and different kinds of motivation (Aworemi,
Abdul-Azeez, & Durowoju, 2011; Deci & Ryan, 2000).
Intrinsic Motivation
According to Herzberg (1966), factors that motivate people’s behavior can be
categorized into two: motivator factor and hygiene factors. Motivator factors are factors that
relate to the content of the job and the worker’s relationship to it. For instance, enjoyment,
responsibility, autonomy, achievement, promotion, personal challenge, and satisfaction are
part of motivator factors (Amabile,1993; Khan & Iqbal, 2013). Since the factors are inherent
in the work, it is also called intrinsic factor (Amabile,1993; Ryan & Deci, 2000; Khan &
Iqbal, 2013). If the workers do not have this motivation, they will not be dissatisfied but they
also will not experience satisfaction.
Intrinsic motivation has a strong influence on workers’ creativity (Zhang & Bartol,
2010). It helps people to grow in knowledge and skills (Amabile,1993). Good result of the
job gives satisfaction and joy. It also challenges the workers to do better especially when they
feel that the job is important. The challenge and significance of the job make it more
interesting. The more the workers are motivated the more they will involve and engage in a
job role. Survey of a study suggests that employee considers intrinsic motivational factor
better motivation than extrinsic motivation (Aworemi et al., 2011). In underdeveloped
countries, however, where people still meet their basic needs e.g. food, and shelters, extrinsic
motivational factors can be more valued. In a research study in Nigeria, some employees
favor intrinsic motivation factors while some value extrinsic motivation (Aworemi et al.,
2011).
Intrinsic Motivation of Seminarians
While most studies focused on intrinsic motivation in the workplace, it can also be
applied in different fields (Ryan & Deci, 2000; Khan & Iqbal, 2013). For instance,
Augustyniak et al. (2016) examined intrinsic motivation as a component for student success.
Allport and Ross (1967) also used similar terms when investigating religious orientation. He
named intrinsic to a motivation that emerge from a religious belief itself. These people live
their religion and identifyi it as an end and the core of their being.
Similarly, this study will investigate intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in its relation to
seminarians’ commitment. According to Sunardi (2014), there are three groups of intrinsic
motivation of the seminarians: altruistic value, existential or personal value, and a spiritual
value. Altruistic value is the urge to help others without any personal interest. Greeley (2004)
said that it is the most essential component of the priesthood. The second group is existential
or personal value, which is a desire to seek for a meaningful life. This second value is more
noticeable among older seminarians or late vocations (Hicks, 1981). Whereas the third which
is a spiritual value is a desire to follow Jesus and serve God. A person can have these three
values but one is higher in rank than the other. For instance, young seminarians put the
altruistic value first, before the existential value. This intrinsic motivation is more favorable
for the priesthood and its persistence. Studies have shown the tendency of the seminarians to
have an intrinsic motivation which also significantly affect their spirituality and commitment
(Mahalik & Lagan, 2001; Reinert & Bloomigdale, 2000). Therefore, to be ordained, a
seminarian must have intrinsic motivation especially the spiritual value. Unlike in the
workplace where self-esteem is included in intrinsic motivation (Khan & Iqbal, 2013), in the
religious context, only self-actualization and transcendence need can be put in intrinsic
motivation (“Congregation for the Clergy”, 2016).
Extrinsic Motivation
Different from motivator or intrinsic factor, hygiene factors are related to the
surrounding context (Herzber, 1966). People are extrinsically motivated when they want to
obtain the goal that is apart from the work itself, e.g. salary, jobs’ security, and general
working conditions, and recognition (Amabile,1993; Khan & Iqbal, 2013). These factors
would not necessarily motivate an individual to work hard but the absence of such factors
may cause dissatisfaction and unhealthy environment in organization. Since it is not
inherently related to the job but being a separable outcome, it is also called the extrinsic
factor (Ryan & Deci, 2000; Khan & Iqbal, 2013).
Extrinsic motivation has significant role in individual’ performance. It can boost the
performance. Sometimes it becomes an effortless solution for task fulfillment. However,
some researchers perceive that extrinsic motivation can lower creativity because people will
focus on materialistic reward instead of tasks itself (Khan & Iqbal, 2013). It happens
especially in developed countries where extrinsic motivational factors are not considered best
motivational factor (Aworemi et al., 2011). Moreover, extrinsic motivational factors can
decrease intrinsic motivation when people prioritize predicted tangible rewards than
creativity, effectiveness, and satisfaction (Deci, Koestner, & Ryan, 2001). Individual current
circumstances and level of needs impinge the effectiveness of the motivation (Khan & Iqbal,
2013). Though it seems that there is a negative relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation, current research however showed that the two type of motivation can also support
each other (Khan & Iqbal, 2013).
Extrinsic Motivation of Seminarians
In the workplace, both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation can be promoted. In religious
context, however, it is different. Only intrinsic motivation is valued since extrinsic motivation
can lead to abusing one’s religion (Allport & Ross, 1967). Religion and its value are just
instruments to reach something else i.e. social or external values and beliefs. People with this
motivation hold religious beliefs in order to attain something else such as security,
sociability, status, or self-justification. These factors are similar to Maslow’s, physiological
needs, safety needs, belongingness needs, and esteem needs (Khan & Iqbal, 2013).
However, it does not mean that seminarians cannot have extrinsic motivation.
Sometimes it can be an entrance to intrinsic motivation. Through the process of formation in
the seminary, extrinsic motivation can be purified to be an intrinsic motivation. This process
can go through four types or stages of external motivation based on its autonomy:
amotivation, introjected regulation, identification, and integrated regulation (Amabile, 1993;
Ryan & Deci, 2000). The least autonomous form is amotivation. It is the state of lacking an
intention to act. It can be caused by lack of intentionality, not valuing an activity, not feeling
competent or not believing on the result. In this state, behaviors are performed to get
externally imposed reward. The second type is introjected regulation. According to
introjected regulation, the reason of a behavior is to avoid guilt or anxiety or for self-pride.
The third type which is more autonomous is identification. In this state, the personal
importance of a behavior is acknowledged and performing voluntarily. The final type is
integrated regulation. It happens when regulation assimilates with one’s values and needs. It
shares many similarities with intrinsic motivation, but still extrinsic, because behavior
motivated by values separated from the job itself. The four types are not static but dynamic
(Ryan & Deci, 2000). At the beginning a seminarian attended the Holy Mass just to please
the formators, but later he attended the Holy Mass because he wanted to meet Jesus who was
present there.
According to Lechner (2013) there are three levels of comparison between extrinsic
and intrinsic motivation: (1) motivations contra to a divine vocation; (2) motivations that are
integrated into divine vocation; and (3) motivations that are transformed into divine
motivation. In the first level, extrinsic motivation must totally be changed because it is
against the true purpose. For instance, motivation for gaining money is contra to service for
the poor. In the second level, motivation is still extrinsic but integral to divine vocation, e.g.
feeling satisfied from the ministry. In the third level, motivation is not extrinsic anymore but
has become intrinsic e.g. personal satisfaction has turned into a loving service.
Commitment of the Seminarians
Sunardi (2014) offered integral meaning to the concept of commitment in the vocation
of the priesthood. He explained it in four ways. Firstly, someone is called committed if he
accepts and believes the values of priesthood. Secondly, he is committed if he is willing to
labor or sacrifice for the goals of priesthood. Thirdly, he is called committed if he perseveres
in the priesthood. And fourthly, he is committed if he has and fulfills his moral and spiritual
obligation to the priesthood.
This commitment can be categorized into three types: affective, continuance, and
normative commitment (Meyer & Allen, 1997). Affective commitment is related to the
emotional attachment, identification, and involvement. A seminarian who has strong affective
commitment remains in his commitment because he wants it. Continuance commitment
means the awareness of the risk if the commitment is cut off. Seminarians have this kind of
commitment if they remain in the seminary just because they do not want their parents to feel
sad. In other words, they need to do so to please their parents. Normative commitment refers
to a feeling of obligation to continue the commitment. People with this kind of commitment
feel that they ought to do so.
These three types of commitment sometimes do not exclusively exist (Sunardi, 2014).
They can, however, exist in a person in varying degrees. Therefore, they are better called
component than type. For instance, a seminarian might feel a strong affection to his vocation,
but at the same time he might also fear the risk of leaving the seminary. The interaction of
these three types of commitment influence a person’s behavior. For instance, a seminarian
might be not very happy in his vocation if continuance commitment is much higher than his
affective commitment. From the three components, however, the most preferable
commitment is the affective commitment (Landy & Conte, 2007). Other studies found that in
the collectivist cultures normative commitment is more valued than the other components.
(Vardi, Wiener, & Popper, 1989).
The Purpose of the Study
The present study seeks to investigate the relationship between motivation and
commitment of the seminarians. Specifically, it aims to answer the following questions:
A. What is the relationship between intrinsic motivation and affective, continuance, and
normative commitment?
B. What is the relationship between extrinsic motivation and affective, continuance, and
normative commitment?
C. Between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation which is a better predictor of affective,
continuance, and normative commitment?
The following hypotheses are going to be tested:
A. There is a significant relationship between intrinsic motivation and affective, continuance,
and normative commitment.
B. There is a significant relationship between extrinsic motivation and affective,
continuance, and normative commitment.
Method
Participants
To find the relationship between motivation and commitment we conducted a survey
to seminarians who were studying theology in a theology school in Metro Manila. We were
able to get 65 respondents. These seminarians came from first to forth years in college and
from different congregations and dioceses. Most of them were Filipinos who came from
different hometowns.
Materials
Table 1 shows a summary of the variables that would be measured in the study. For
this study, a 58 item questionnaire printed on an A4 sheet of paper would be used. Four
questions were about the participant’s personal data, 18 were about intrinsic motivation, 18
about extrinsic motivation and another 18 about commitment (see Appendix C). .
Table 1:
Summary of the variables to be measured
Motivation Commitment
Intrinsic Motivation Extrinsic Motivation
Questions 1-18 Questions 19-36 Questions 37-54
Motivation would be divided into two aspects, intrinsic and extrinsic. There would be
18 questions for intrinsic motivation which would have a highest possible score (HPS) of 90
and the lowest possible score (LPS) was 18. Intrinsic motivation questions were comprised of
three components: spiritual value, altruistic value, and for existential value. Questions for
spiritual value were adapted from the questions developed by King et al. (2005), whereas
questions for altruistic value were taken from the questions developed by Smith (2005), and
for existential value, questions were adapted from the 11-item scale for existential thinking
(SET) Allan and Shearer (2012). A sample question is as follows:
I would endure all things for the sake of the one I care.
A. Strongly Agree D. Disagree
B. Agree E. Strongly Disagree
C. Neutral
If the participant strongly agreed that “he will endure all things for the sake of the one he
cares for”, then he would encircle letter A. If he only agreed with the statement, then he
would choose to encircle letter B. If he was neutral about the phrase then letter C would be
the best option. If he disagreed with this, letter D would be suitable and if he strongly
disagreed with the statement then letter E would be his answer.
For extrinsic motivation, there would also be 18 questions. The questions were
adapted from the extrinsic motivation survey developed by Khan and Iqbal (2013). The
highest possible score was 90 and lowest possible score was 18. The higher the score meant
the higher the extrinsic motivation experienced by the seminarians. Some of the questions
were modified. Instead of measuring job security, promotion and growth, good wages, and
recognition, we would measure material reward, good facility, support from the community
and family, and recognition and appreciation. A sample question is as follows:
I feel more motivated if my allowance is increased.
C. Neutral
If the participant strongly agreed that “if he felt more motivated if his allowance was increased. ”,
then he would encircle letter A. If he only agreed with the statement, then he would choose to
encircle letter B. If he was neutral about the phrase then letter C would be the best option. If
he disagreed with this, letter D would be suitable and if he strongly disagreed with the
statement then letter E would be his answer.
Lastly, we would use the organizational commitment scale of Meyer and Allen
(1997) to measure the commitment of seminarians to the priesthood. There were three
components of commitment measured in this study, i.e. affective commitment, continuance
commitment, and normative commitment. Each component would be measured by six items
(see Table 2).

Table 2
Summary of the components of commitment and the measuring items
Components Affective Continuance Normative

Commitment Commitment Commitment
Items number 37, 38, 42, 48, 51, 53 40, 43, 46, 49, 52, 54 39, 41, 44, 45, 47, 50
A sample question is as follows:
Even if it were to my advantage, I do not feel it would be right to leave my priestly vocation
now.
C. Neutral
If the participant strongly agreed that it would not be right to leave his vocation right now
even if it had been to his advantage, then he would encircle letter A. If he only agreed with
the statement, then he would choose to encircle letter B. If he was neutral about the phrase
then letter C would be the best option. If he disagreed with this, letter D would be suitable
and if he strongly disagreed with the statement then letter E would be his answer.
Procedure
We conducted our survey in a school of theology in Metro Manila. We met the vice
president for academic affair and gave him a letter that explained the nature and purpose of
our study, respondents that we would need, and time to distribute the survey (see Appendix
A). Since it was near exam week, we were only allowed to conduct the survey informally.
Therefore, we asked some friends who were the students of the school to distribute our
survey among their classmates. To ensure their willingness, we attached an informed consent
form (see Appendix B) on the questionnaire. If they agreed to participate, they would sign the
informed consent. After that, they could answer the questionnaire. After almost two weeks,
we were able to get 65 respondents.
From the 65 questionnaires that were returned, one questionnaire was discarded
because more than half of the questions were not answered. Each item was scored, and then
all scores from the same category were summed. Thus, from each questionnaire, we got score
for each intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, affective commitment, continuance
commitment, and normative commitment. The scores from the remaining 64 questionnaires,
then, were encoded into the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The data were
analyzed using Pearson’s product moment correlation of coefficient to measure the
relationships between intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, and affective, continuance, and
normative commitment. A simple linear regression was utilized to determine the best
predictor for affective, continuance, and normative commitment of seminarians.
Results
A series of Pearson Product Moment of Correlation Coefficients were conducted to
investigate the relationships between intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and affective,
continuance, and normative commitment. Results revealed that intrinsic motivation
(M=79.06, SD. = 6.32) and affective commitment (M=23.67, SD. = 2.83) were significantly
related, r = .34, n = 64, p = .007. Whereas the relationship between intrinsic motivation and
continuance, r = .12, n = 64, p = .34, and normative commitment, r = .12, n = 64, p = .36
were not significantly related. Thus the higher intrinsic motivation, the higher is the affective
commitment.
Results also showed that extrinsic motivation (M = 48.77, SD. = 8.35) and
continuance commitment (M = 15.44, SD. = 3.85) were significantly related, r = .38, n = 64,
p = .002. Whereas the relationship between extrinsic motivation and affective, r = -.11, n =
64, p = .41, and normative commitment, r = .03, n = 64, p = .82 were not significantly
related. Thus the higher extrinsic motivation, the higher is the continuance commitment.
A simple linear regression was calculated to predict affective commitment based on
intrinsic motivations. A significant regression equation was found F (1,62) = 7.89, p = .007
with an R2 of .11. Seminarian’s predicted affective commitment is equal to 11.78 + .15
(Intrinsic motivation). Seminarian’s affective commitment increased by .15 for each
additional intrinsic motivation.
Another simple linear regression was calculated to predict continuance commitment
based on extrinsic motivations. A significant regression equation was found F (1,62) = 10.19,
p = .002 with an R2 of .14. Seminarian’s predicted continuance commitment is equal to 6.98
+ .17 (extrinsic motivation). Seminarian’s continuance commitment increased by .17 for each
additional extrinsic motivation.
Discussion
The results supported our hypothesis and other studies (Mahalik & Lagan, 2001;
Reinert & Bloomigdale, 2000), noting that there were significant relationships between
motivations and commitment. There were significant relationships between intrinsic
motivation and affective commitment; and between extrinsic motivation and continuance
commitment. They even proved that affective commitment which was the best commitment
among the three components was best predicted by intrinsic motivation (Landy & Conte,
2007). Therefore, in order to get highly committed priests, the intrinsic motivation of
seminarians should be fostered and promoted during their formation.
Continuance commitment was the worst commitment among the three (Landy &
Conte, 2007). Pope Francis even said that if this component is high in a seminarian, it would
be better for him to leave the seminary (Francis, 2015). Unsurprisingly, the component was
best predicted by extrinsic motivation. Nonetheless, seminarians, specifically those who are
in the first years of formation, should not be expelled. Extrinsic motivations can be purified
through the process of formation in the seminary. Amabile (1993), Ryan, and Deci (2000)
argued that extrinsic motivation is dynamic and can go through these four types or stages:
amotivation, introjected regulation, identification, and integrated regulation. Similarly,
Lechner (2013) also suggested that extrinsic and intrinsic motivations can be compared in
three levels: (1) motivations contra to a divine vocation; (2) motivations that are integrated
into divine vocation; and (3) motivations that are transformed into divine motivation. Of
course, after years of formation, if a seminarian is still extrinsically motivated, he should be
suggested that priesthood is not his vocation.
Normative commitment which was in the middle of the three components (Landy &
Conte, 2007) was not significantly related to both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. It can
be interpreted that this component can be influenced by both motivations. Additionally, the
fact that our respondents were coming from various backgrounds could affect the result since
normative commitment was influenced by culture which was the collectivist culture (Vardi,
Wiener, & Popper, 1989).
Although our study proved the significant relationships between motivation and
commitment, it should be noted that the coefficient determinations were very low. Coefficient
determination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations were .11 and .14 respectively. It means
only 11 % for intrinsic motivation and 14% for extrinsic motivation of errors were managed
to reduce in predicting the commitment of seminarians. There are still other factors that
influence the commitment. Thus, intrinsic and extrinsic motivations are not absolute gauge
for commitment. Besides, we stressed too much on the division between intrinsic and
extrinsic motivation, and among the three components of commitment whereas in reality,
they can interact with each other (Sunardi, 2014).

Contribution and Limitation
Our study is one among few studies in this field. It showed the significant
relationships between motivation and commitment. Our motivation scale can be adopted in
the formation to gauge motivation of the seminarians in order to help them grow in their
vocation. It can also be applied to select candidates who are entering seminary. The results
however, should be interpreted cautiously. Beside its low coefficient determination, its
reliability, internal validity, and external validity have yet to be measured. Further and more
controlled studies are needed to prove, develop, or even revise our findings.
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Priests and Seminarians (Doctoral dissertation, Marquette University, 2009)

(p. 421). Wisconsin: E-Publications@Marquette.
The pontifical yearbook 2017 and the “annuarium statisticum ecclesiae” 2015. (2017, April
6). Retrieved April 20, 2017, from
http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/
2017/04/06/170406e.html
Uy, J. R. (2013). PH Catholic Church badly needs priests for growing flock. Retrieved April
20, 2017, from http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/464305/ph-catholic-church-badly-
needs-priests-for-growing-flock#ixzz4ehkuh2OU
Vardi, V., Wiener, Y., & Popper, M. (1989). The value content of organizational mission as a
factor in the commitment of members. Psychological Reports,65(1), 27-34.
doi:10.2466/pr0.1989.65.1.27
Zhang, X., & Bartol, K. M. (2010). Linking empowering leadership and employee creativity:
The influence of psychological empowerment, intrinsic motivation, and
creative process engagement. Academy of Management Journal,53(1), 107-
128. doi:10.5465/amj.2010.48037118
APPENDIX A
April 25, 2017
FR. PETER POJOL, SJ
VP for Academic Affairs
Loyola School of Theology
Loyola Heights, Quezon City
Dear Fr. Peter,
Greetings!
My name is Reynold Sombolayuk and along with my partner AJ Ignacio, we are current
students of Introduction to Psychological Research under the tutelage of Jopie Nolasco. For
our final project, we are conducting a study entitled: Relationship between Motivation of
Seminarians and their Commitment to the priesthood
In line with this, we will be needing 100 current seminarians as participants in our survey.
We are humbly asking for your permission to allow your students under the Loyola School of
Theology to participate in our study. The administration of the survey takes about 15-
20minutes. Rest assured that all information and results will be kept confidential and will be
used strictly for the purpose of the study..
Hoping for a favorable response. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Reynold A. Sombolayuk Albert J. Ignacio
APPENDIX B
INFORMED CONSENT FORM
Dear Student of Theology,
Greetings! We are Reynold Sombolayuk and Albert Joseph Ignacio, graduate students
under the direction of Jopie Nolasco of the Psychology Department at the Ateneo De Manila
University. We are conducting a research study on the relationship between motivation and
the commitment of seminarians.
We would like to request you to participate in our survey. The survey should only
take around 15-20 minutes to answer. Please be assured that your responses will be
completely anonymous and confidential. Your participation in this study is voluntary. If you
choose not to participate or to withdraw from the study at any time, there will be no penalty.
The potential benefits of the study is to find out what is the main motivator for
individuals to decide to go into a life of priesthood and what is their current motivation in
continuing with their studies.
If you have any questions about the research, feel free to ask either Reynold
(reyomindo@gmail.com) or Albert (aj71588@yahoo.com) about it. If you give your consent,
please sign this form. Thank you for your time and generosity.
Hereby, I give my consent to participate in the study of finding relationship between
motivation and the commitment of Seminarians.

(Signature of the Respondent)
APPENDIX C
Survey Questionnaire
General Instruction: Please answer all questions as honestly and accurately as possible..
Encircle the letter that best corresponds to your answer. There is no right or wrong answers.
This survey will take approximately 15-20 minutes. Thank you for answering our survey
questions honestly.
1. I like helping others.

C. Neutral
2. I feel happy every time I help someone

C. Neutral
3. I would rather suffer myself than let the one I love suffer
C. Neutral
4. I feel happy if I sacrifice myself for the sake of others.

C. Neutral
5. I would endure all things for the sake of the one I care.
C. Neutral
6. I feel sad if I see others’ pain.

A. Strongly Agree B. Agree
C. Neutral E. Strongly Disagree

D. Disagree
7. I am searching for the true meaning of my life.

C. Neutral
8. I want my life to be meaningful

C. Neutral
9. I like reading books about wisdom.

C. Neutral
10. I like to find meanings from everything that I do.

C. Neutral
11. I believe that my life has purpose.

C. Neutral
12. I like philosophy.

C. Neutral
13. I believe Jesus is my savior.

C. Neutral
14. I feel that Jesus touches my heart to follow him.

C. Neutral
15. God leads my path towards him.

C. Neutral
16. I am not afraid of my life because God is protecting me.

C. Neutral
17. I have (a) personal experience(s) of God’s miracle in my life.

C. Neutral
18. I believe that there is heaven.

C. Neutral
19. I feel more motivated if my allowance is increased.

C. Neutral
20. My allowance is too small for meeting my needs.

C. Neutral
21. I am excited if the seminary has good and complete facility.

C. Neutral
22. I believe good facility will affect the happiness of the seminarians.
C. Neutral
23. If I may choose, I prefer working in the city to working in the village.
C. Neutral
24. If I see that the formators like me, I will do better.

C. Neutral
25. I will do what the formators say to make please them.

C. Neutral
26. I am thinking to leave if I have bad relationship with my friends in the community.
C. Neutral
27. I feel stressed if my relationship with my community is bad.

C. Neutral
28. I prefer helping my formators to my friends.

C. Neutral
29. I will leave the seminary if my parents ask me.

C. Neutral
30. I entered the seminary just to make my parents happy.

C. Neutral
31. If I have to choose, I will choose my family to my vocation.

C. Neutral
32. I am happy if I am assigned to have some training or studies.

C. Neutral
33. If I may choose, I prefer taking further study to working in the parish.
C. Neutral
34. I think seminarians who get high grade should get a reward.
C. Neutral
35. Rewards will make seminarians more disciplined.

C. Neutral
36. I want everybody to appreciate my achievement.

C. Neutral
37. I would be very happy to spend the rest of my life in my priestly vocation
C. Neutral
38. I enjoy discussing my priestly vocation with lay people.

C. Neutral
39. I do not feel an obligation to remain in my priestly vocation. *

C. Neutral
40. Right now, staying with the priestly vocation is a matter of necessity as much as desire.
C. Neutral
41. Even if it were to my advantage, I do not feel it would be right to leave my priestly
vocation now.
C. Neutral
42. I do not feel like “a part of the family” at my diocese or congregation. *

C. Neutral
43. Too much of my life would be disrupted if I decided to leave my vocation right now.
C. Neutral
44. I would feel guilty if I left my priestly vocation now.

C. Neutral
45. I would not leave my priestly vocation right now because I have a sense of obligation to
the Church.
C. Neutral
46. If I had not already put so much of myself into my priestly vocation, I might consider
living a married life or another vocation.
A. Strongly Agree B. Agree
C. Neutral E. Strongly Disagree

D. Disagree
47. My priestly vocation deserves my loyalty.

C. Neutral
48. I do not feel “emotionally attached” to my priestly vocation. *

C. Neutral
49. I believe that I have too few options to consider about leaving my priestly vocation.
C. Neutral
50. I owe a great deal to my priestly vocation

C. Neutral
51. The priestly vocation has a great deal of personal meaning for me.
C. Neutral
52. One of the few negative consequences of leaving priestly vocation would be the scarcity of
available alternatives.
C. Neutral
53. I do not feel a strong sense of “belonging” to my priestly vocation. *

C. Neutral
54. I continue to live my priestly vocation because another vocation may not match the
benefits I had have.
A. Strongly Agree C. Neutral
B. Agree D. Disagree
E. Strongly Disagree
Sociodemographic Questionnaire
Note: Sign (*) needs reverse scoring.
1. Age
 Below 20  31-35
 20-25  36-40
 26-30  Above 40
2. Congregation/ Diocesan
 Congregation …………………
 Diocesan ………………...
3. Nationality
 Filipino hometown: ………………..
 Foreigner country: ……………………
4. Years in Theology
 First Year  Third Year
 Second Year  Forth Year
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Running head: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MOTIVATION AND COMMITMENT 1

Relationship between Motivation of Seminarians and

Their Commitment to the Priesthood

Ateneo de Manila University

Ateneo de Manila University

Vocation of priesthood is influenced by many factors including motivation and

extrinsic motivation, affective commitment, continuence commitment, and normative

commitment. Adapted from several studies, a 58 item questionnaire printed on an A4 sheet of

continuance commitment. Whereas simple linear regressions showed that affective

commitment was predicted by intrinsic motivation, and continuance commitment was

Key words: vocation; motivation; commitment; seminarians; priesthood

Relationship between Motivation of Seminarians and

Their Commitment to the Priesthood

Therefore, Catholic priesthood is absolutely needed to continue the work of Christ's

According to Vatican statistics (2017), the number of Catholics worldwide has

solutions, which one of them was vocation (Scanlon, 2017).

(2017), there is an increase by 30.9% in Africa and 29 .4% in Asia.

who accompany and train them are called formator.

contribute to the formation in the seminary.

Abdul-Azeez, & Durowoju, 2011; Deci & Ryan, 2000).

According to Herzberg (1966), factors that motivate people’s behavior can be

responsibility, autonomy, achievement, promotion, personal challenge, and satisfaction are

also will not experience satisfaction.

better motivation than extrinsic motivation (Aworemi et al., 2011). In underdeveloped

Intrinsic Motivation of Seminarians

motivation (“Congregation for the Clergy”, 2016).

may cause dissatisfaction and unhealthy environment in organization. Since it is not

factor (Ryan & Deci, 2000; Khan & Iqbal, 2013).

performance. Sometimes it becomes an effortless solution for task fulfillment. However,

each other (Khan & Iqbal, 2013).

Extrinsic Motivation of Seminarians

sociability, status, or self-justification. These factors are similar to Maslow’s, physiological

Sometimes it can be an entrance to intrinsic motivation. Through the process of formation in

amotivation, introjected regulation, identification, and integrated regulation (Amabile, 1993;

externally imposed reward. The second type is introjected regulation. According to

importance of a behavior is acknowledged and performing voluntarily. The final type is

Commitment of the Seminarians

of the priesthood. He explained it in four ways. Firstly, someone is called committed if he

accepts and believes the values of priesthood. Secondly, he is committed if he is willing to

obligation to the priesthood.

commitment remains in his commitment because he wants it. Continuance commitment

feel that they ought to do so.

(Vardi, Wiener, & Popper, 1989).

The Purpose of the Study

commitment of the seminarians. Specifically, it aims to answer the following questions:

C. Between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation which is a better predictor of affective,

continuance, and normative commitment?

The following hypotheses are going to be tested:

A. There is a significant relationship between intrinsic motivation and affective, continuance,

and normative commitment.

B. There is a significant relationship between extrinsic motivation and affective,

continuance, and normative commitment.

To find the relationship between motivation and commitment we conducted a survey

Summary of the variables to be measured

Intrinsic Motivation Extrinsic Motivation

Questions 1-18 Questions 19-36 Questions 37-54

(SET) Allan and Shearer (2012). A sample question is as follows:

A. Strongly Agree D. Disagree