Identity Consequences of Religious Changing: Effects of Motivation for Change on Identity Outcomes

Carrothers, Robert M.

doi:10.1080/00380237.2010.10571373

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Political ideology (Djupe, Neiheisel, and Sokhey 2018; Hout and Fischer 2014), socioeconomic status (Stark and Glock 1968), and residential move (Doebler and Shuttleworth 2018; Stark and Finke 2000) are all well‐known determinants of conversion. However, somewhat surprisingly, there does not appear to be a link between motivation for religious change and religious commitment (Carrothers 2010; Hoge, Johnson, and Luidens 1995).…”

Section: Theoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Zeal of the Convert Revisited

Beider¹

2020

Scientific Study of Religion

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Social scientists have long been interested in the effects of conversion on religiosity. Drawing on data from the 2014 Pew Religious Landscape Survey, I revisit the zeal of the convert thesis by comparing the religiosity of both converts and cradle members within the main American religious traditions. My findings reveal that converts are not more zealous than lifelong members, in fact, converts tend to have lower levels of religious commitment. Switchers raised in strict denominations do exhibit greater zeal than cradle members. The discussion argues that people create new, hybrid forms of religious engagement based on elements from both their current and childhood religious identities. Conversion is less a sudden rupture involving dramatic, wholesale change; rather, it is a process in which some prior religious norms are retained alongside new ones.

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Section: Theoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Zeal of the Convert Revisited

Beider¹

2020

Scientific Study of Religion

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“…There are numerous theories in the conversion literature to account for the ways in which an individual arrives at the decision to change his or her religious group affiliation (Austin-Broos 2003;Carrothers 2010;Lofland and Stark 1965;Lofland and Skonovd 1981;Rambo 1999). These range from the structural, involving a passive individual who is chosen for inclusion into a faith by a group or entity, with little conscious decision to make a change (Clark 1979;Dawson 1990) to more recent theories that depict the individual as an active seeker, looking for the right religious fit to complete his/her life (Badran 2006;Bromley 1997;Cavalcanti and Chalfant 1994;Van Nieuwkerk 2014;Vroon 2014).…”

Section: The Conversion Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

Being a ‘White Muslima’ in the Netherlands Ethnicity, Friendships and Relationships—The Dutch Conversion Narrative

Hass

2020

Religions

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This article, which is part of a larger ongoing project, examines relationships, friendships and levels of belonging in Dutch society, as well as in the Dutch Muslim community in narratives of women converted to Islam. The ethnicity of these women is always visible as ‘native Dutch’ and shapes their conversion narratives. This ethnography raises a number of questions that form the basis for the analysis presented here: How do Dutch Muslim women shape their identity in a way that is both Dutch and Muslim? Do they incorporate Dutch parameters into their Muslim identity, while at the same time weaving Islamic principles into their Dutch sense of self? The findings show how the conversion narrative can be mobilized by Dutch Muslim women to serve identity formation, levels of belonging and personal (religious) choice in the Netherlands, where Islam is largely considered by the non-Muslim population to be a religion that is oppressive and discriminatory towards women and is associated with foreignness and being the Other. It is argued that, in the context of being Dutch and Muslim, these women express their freedom of choice, which is manifested through friendships, relationships and marriages (Islamic vs. civil), while their ethnicity and conversion experience is a visible component in their identity. In so doing, these women push the limits of the archetypal Dutch identity and are able to criticize Dutch society while simultaneously stretching the meaning of Islam and being critical of Dutch Muslim communities to craft their own hybrid identity.

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