I began looking onto deconversion as a journalist. I wanted to look at stories of Christians who had famously become atheists, and see how their stories were similar. Little did I know that I was on the crest of a movement. Back in 2016 when I ran a series on the conversion of atheists (still a cutting-edge topic in conversion research), it was common knowledge that Christians left the faith to become atheists. In fact, some of my atheist readers... Read more
Sometimes we want to know why people do the things they do. In my field of Behavior Analysis, we have a simple tool to figure out what drives a person to behave a particular way. The technical term is a “Functional Analysis.” Motivations for Behavior Human beings, along with most other animals, do things for one of these reasons: To gain some item (like candy, a new car, or that thing on the top shelf) To gain attention (which is... Read more
It has almost become a trope among Christians that sending your kids off to college will cause them to abandon the faith. And this isn’t entirely untrue. Research done in 2020 by the researchers Łysiak, Zarzycka, Puchalska-Wasyl suggests that social ties have a lot to do with either religious fidelity or deconversion in youth. Meaning that youth who have strong ties to family and religious peers are far less likely to deconvert than those whose ties to family and church... Read more
CONVERSION NARRATIVES Starbuck (1866-1947) and James (1902) were pioneers in the field of Conversion studies. Both of these relied on “conversion narratives” in their studies. Later, the Oxford Handbook of Religious Conversion would include a chapter exploring conversion in terms of narrative. A “narrative” in this sense is simply a story which has a definite beginning point, rises to a narrative climax, and then has a definite conclusion. In terms of conversion narratives, the standard format in people’s minds is... Read more
While the substance of this column is related to studies in religious psychology, Patheos has asked for my expertise as an approach for Christians selecting their denomination. Any writer approaching this subject as a Christian insider is liable to do so by way of theological considerations, and it seems likely that such a writer would favor his or her denomination over others. It may surprise the reader to learn that this is a question upon which psychology has much to... Read more
It has long been argued in religious conversion studies whether there is a significant difference between conversion and deconversion. One line of reasoning goes something like this: every conversion to something is a deconversion away from something else. So that a person who becomes a Christian is changing a great deal of his or her worldview as a result of the conversion, and discarding old notions as a result. The reverse would also be true. A person deconverting from Christianity would be changing worldviews to adopt new standards and ideas.... Read more
In his book The Variety of Religious Experiences, William James writes about multiple accounts of religious conversions, most of which occurred in the late 19th century. James observes that accounts of religious conversion seem to come primarily from adolescents, which makes sense given that this is a time of change and identity formation in a youth. Upon examination of James’s stories, however, one will be quick to note that his teenage “converts” were already living in a Christian home and... Read more
What is ‘Doubt’ It isn’t uncommon for a person to be skeptical toward a claim. “The moon landing was a hoax,” could easily be met with “I doubt it.” Additionally, most people have experienced lapses in self-confidence which may be termed “self-doubt.” And yet in all the history of psychological theory and research, when the word “doubt” is used, it is almost exclusively in a religious context. Given that psychologists rarely use the word ‘doubt’ in studies which do not... Read more
Imagine eating a bag of salty chips. Before you begin to munch on the chips, a frosty glass of cold water would only be mildly tempting. But with each chip you consume, the more attractive the glass of water becomes. The act of eating the chips increases the value of the glass of water. By the same principle, for every moment one spends in a stuffy auditorium with no air conditioning, the exit door becomes more and more attractive. In... Read more
The first several articles in this column focused on the history of conversion research. Understanding how religious conversion works is important to understanding how deconversion works. But it has come time to dig into the features of deconversion. Deconversion research is still in its infancy in comparison to conversion research. And so the first task of the researcher is to define what “deconversion” means. The leading figure in deconversion research is currently Dr. John Marriott. In his book The Anatomy... Read more
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