the convert as a social type: a critical assessment of the
TRANSCRIPT
Brigham Young University Brigham Young University
BYU ScholarsArchive BYU ScholarsArchive
Theses and Dissertations
1988
The Convert as a Social Type: A Critical Assessment of the Snow-The Convert as a Social Type: A Critical Assessment of the Snow-
Machalek Conversion Typology as Applied to British Mormon Machalek Conversion Typology as Applied to British Mormon
Converts Converts
Joy A. O'Banion Brigham Young University - Provo
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BYU ScholarsArchive Citation BYU ScholarsArchive Citation O'Banion, Joy A., "The Convert as a Social Type: A Critical Assessment of the Snow-Machalek Conversion Typology as Applied to British Mormon Converts" (1988). Theses and Dissertations. 4989. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4989
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the convert as a social type
A critical assessment of the snow machaiekmachalek
conversion typology as applied to
british mormon converts
A thesispresented to the
department of sociology
brigham young university
in partial fulfillmentof the requirements for the degree
master of science
by
joy A obanionaugust 1988
HM61020102
ptaqia
mentnent
this thesis by joy A obanion is accepted in itspresent form by the department of sociology of brigham
young university as satisfying the thesis requirement
for the degree of master of science
yia cujccuiccudoddjcmarie cornwallcommittee chair
evan T petersoncommittee member
gumquaguk 15 mdate
alj JL rl7 f
pames T dukedepartment chairman
ii
date
TABLETABIE OF CONTENTS
pageTABLE OF CONTENTS
O0 O0 O0 O0
O0 0 0 0
lillii
69gg
iiiLIST OF TABLES V
LIST OF FIGURESFIGURESO O0 O0 O0 O0 O0 O0 O0 O0 O0 O0 O0 O0 O0 O0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 viiacknowledgementsACKNOWLEDGE 0MENTS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
review of literature 5definitions of conversion
16
chapter2 methodology 23
unit selection 23sample selection and response rate
26current study
29
chapter3 ANALYSIS OF THE SNOW MACHALEK conversion
TYPOLOGY AS APPLIED TO MORMONS 31generalizability and fit to mormonism
34adoption of a master attribution scheme .3838suspension of analogical reasoning
47areas of disagreement in theassessment of the typology 52effectiveness in applying thetypology to mormonscormonsMormons
62relationships between the fourdimensions of the typology 63measures of conversion 65social integration measures
72
iii
COTENTS
0 f f
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 viii
chapter1 introduction AND theoretical perspectives 96 6 6 61
20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 9
6 0 6 0 6 4 0
scheme38
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 062
table
24
272829
33
3842
57
6.6
the role of interpersonal relationshipsin the conversion process 9.9
the convert as a social type
.2424interview schedule
.2727assessment of the typology .2828measures of conversion .2929measures of social integration
.3333biographical reconstruction e e
.4242embracement of the master role
.5757
chapter4 ANALYSIS AND FINDINGSFINDINGSO O0 O0 O0
.6969usefulness of the typology in theassessment of conversion
O0 0 0
chapter5 conclusions 78
referencesREFERENCE O0 G O0 ID S D 91
appendices 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 96
iv
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 s 0 0 0 e 0 0 0 0 978
0 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 egi091
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a 0 0 t 0 0 0 0 0 0 e 0 0 0 e
SO
2838
LIST OF TABLES
table title paopac
1 response rate among new converthouseholds
2 6
3 definitions of biographicalreconstruction and indicationsamong mormonscormonsMormons
66
12 zeroorderzero correlationorder coefficientsof dimensions of the conversiontypology and measures of socialintegration 70
v
P
25
47
50
52
58
59
64
42
.2525
2 response rate among inactivehouseholds
28.28
4 definitions of adoption of amaster attribution scheme andindications among mormonscormonsMormons 2.2
5 definitions of suspension ofanalogical reasoning andindications among mormonscormonsMormons .4747
6 definitions of embracement ofthe master role and indicationsamong mormonscormonsMormonsnons .5050
7 differences in agreement ofthe typology and frequency ofoccurrence .5252
8 differences in agreement ofthe typology and frequency ofoccurrence between the consensusof the research team and rater three .5858
9 zeroorderzero correlationorder coefficientsof assessments of the typology amongpairs of raters .5959
10 reduction of errors lambdas inprediction of dimensions of thetypology .6464
11 zeroorderzero correlationorder coefficientsof dimensions of the conversiontypology and measures of conversion
.4242
13 conversion hierarchy of the dimensionsof the typology 75.7575
vi
LIST OF FIGURES
figure title page
1 the influence of social interaction andthe process of socialization on thedevelopment of a new global perspective
fichurecfure P
86
89
.8686
2 the convergence of conversion theories andthe development of a global perspective .8989
vii
unfinfunforgettableorgettableforgettableor
experience
gettableafforded me to do research in the british
isles much more than this thesis was gained from thatexperience and the memories of it are a source of greatjoy to me
I1 thank professors marie cornwall and evan peterson
for their support and encouragement in my academic
endeavors they have always encouraged me to reach a
little farther than I1 am comfortable for the way they
have stretched me I1 am greatly indebted
special thanks go to ron and liz leavitt for theirfriendship support and encouragement they were
especially appreciated at timestines when my own faithaithfalthalth in my
abilities was lacking their encouragement is to a
large degree responsible for the completion of thisproject
finally and most importantly I1 thank my parents fortheir love and support in my academic pursuits as wellas in life I1 thank them for the religious upbringing
they have given me and for the global perspective thatit has provided me I1 appreciate their sacrifices in my
behalf
viii
acknowledgements
I1 express my deep appreciation to the research and
evaluation division of the correlation department of the
church of jesus christ of latterdaylatter saintsday for the data
used in this project also for thefor
for
ti8 mesnes f
chapterChapt 1
introduction and theoretical perspectives
the study of conversion to new religious movements
has received considerable attention by sociologists of
religion however there is little consensus about what
is meant by conversion exactly what occurs when one isconverted and how it can be measured several
theoretical models have been suggested in theliterature but agreement concerning the subjectcontinues to be elusive
although lofland and starks lofland & stark 1965
model of conversion is the most cited snow and machaiekmachalek
have recently presented a new conceptualization thisthesis will examine snow and machaieksmachaleks attempt todefine conversion and critically assess how useful theirperspective is in understanding conversion among britishmormon converts
snow has been particularly critical of lofland and
starks model and through what began as a criticalassessment of the loflandstarklofland modelstark snow and machaiekmachalek
have developed their own conversion typology snow &
machaiekmachalek 1984 snow & phillips 1980 they base thedevelopment of this typology on the theoreticalreasoning that conversion is more than a change in onesbehavior it means more than attendance at religious
1
gr
meetings or testifying of ones conversion they argue
that true conversion involves a change in onesuniverse of discoursediscoursed that framework from which one
thinks feels and interprets the events of his or her
life their typology is an attempt to tie the empirical
indicators used to demonstrate this change in onesuniverse of discourse to their theoretical perspective
of what conversion involvessnow and machaleks model has not been widely
received by sociologists of religion however sinceinceits introduction into the literature snow & machaiekmachalek
1983 the model has not been critically assessed as to
its usefulness in the study of conversion this thesiswill do so
perhaps the most significant contribution of loflandand starks model is the importance of the development
of interpersonal ties in the conversion process
subsequent studies have also found intense interpersonal
ties to be of utmost importance and this study willexamine their importance in conversion to mormonism
using the dimensions of the typology outlined by snow
and machalekmachaiek we will attempt to identify converts tomormonism they theorize that a converts change in
universe of discourse brings with it a change inlanguage and reasoning therefore they assert thatconverts can be identified by the demonstration of four
one I1 s
S
2
properties of language and reasoning 1 biographical
reconstruction 2 adoption of a master attributionscheme 3 suspension of analogical reasoning and 4
embracement of the master roleconverts will be classified according to these four
properties as a test of how effective the typology is in
defining converts to mormonism the guiding questions
for the study are do converts to mormonism talk about
their experiences in a way that fits the snow machaiekmachalek
typology if7 so do all four dimensions of the typology
apply equally or are some more prevalent than othersand finally is the presence or absence of thedimensions of the typology associated with measures of
personal religiosity religious participation and
social integration within the group if the typology
fits those who demonstrate its dimensions will alsoscore higher on more quantitative measures ofreligiosity we will test the associations of thesemeasures with the dimensions of the typology as an
objective evaluation of the typologys effectivenessin order to address these questions this study will
1 classify a random sample of new britishconverts to mormonism according to the fourdimensions of conversion outlined by snow andmachaiekmachalek
2 evaluate the typologys usefulness indescribing the extent to which mormon converts fitsnow and machaieksmachaleks social type
3
3 examine the amount of association between thepresence or absence of each of the four dimensionsof the typology and selfreportedself measuresreported ofreligious participation and personal religiosity4 examine the amount of association between thepresence or absence of the four dimensions of thetypology and social integration within the groupas quantified by the number of family andfriendship ties within the group
based upon the literature review of the conversion
research we hypothesize
1 A high degree of association between religiousparticipation and the presence or absence of thefour dimensions
2 A high degree of association between personalreligiosity and the presence or absence of thefour dimensions
3 A high degree of association between socialintegration within the group and the presence orabsence of the four dimensions
we will begin our discussion by a review of theconversion literature the perspectives that have been
used to explain conversion and how it has come to be
defined we will then turn our discussion to thesociological perspective introduced by lofland and
stark this perspective attempts to understand what theconversion process is and focuses on how this process
occurs since we are assessing their model particularattention will be given to the theoretical background
snow and machaiekmachalek used in the development of theirtypology the dimensions of the typology will be
4
1
outlined in detail their theoretical reasoning fordeveloping the typology will be evaluated and finallythe new model will be empirically tested
review of the literaturein their literature review snow and machaiekmachalek snow &
machaiekmachalek 1984 classified the research on the causes of
conversion into three main perspectives the first was
prominent during the early part of the twentieth century
and was greatly influenced by the work of william james
it was dominated by theological and psychological
explanations of conversion james 1902 starbuck 1915
clark 1929 the second was influenced by theexperiences of american POWs in the korean war thisperspective equated the conversion process to a
religious movement to the brainwashing and coercivepersuasion that was experienced by those in theprisoner of war camps moloney 1955 miller 1957
bauer 1957 sargant 1957 lifton 1961 schein 1961
the third perspective and one that continues to be
of importance today was initiated by the loflandstarkloflandmodel
starkof conversion it attempts to use sociological
explanations to understand the conversion process and
emphasizes the importance of the social groupgroups
influence upon individuals who join new religiousmovements lofland & stark 1965 heirich 1977
richardson 1978 bromley & shupe 1979 downton 1979
5
deta 11 forouti ined
snow & phillips 1980 lofland & skonovd 1981 long &
hadden 1983 it is this current perspective that isof greatest importance to us as we attempt to furtherunderstand sociologically how to define conversion
the eteologyedeologyete ofology conversion and how to recognize when
conversion has occurred
definitions of conversion
before the eteologyedeologyete ofology conversion and what indicates
its occurrence can be understood we must first examine
what is meant by conversion defining conversion has
been a problem in the literature some sociologists of
religion assume conversion to have occurred when one
professes it snow & machaiekmachalek 1984 but thisassumption is problematic because conversion means very
different things to different individualsthe most consistent theme throughout the literature
is that conversion involves a radical personal change a
dramatic change a turning point from one viewpoint to
another or a return to principles from which one has
strayed gillispie 1979 p 121712 this17 viewpoint
comes largely from the work of nockmock As an earlyconversion theorist nock defined conversion as the
reorientation of the soul of an individual hisdeliberate turning from indifference or from an earlierform of piety to another a turning which implies a
consciousness that a great change is involved that the
6
changea
convers ionlon
ionlontraditcradit
old was wrong and the new is right nock 1933 p 7
conversion can according to nock take two forms the
turning back to a tradition generally held and
characteristic of society as a whole a tradition in
which the convert was reared but which he has left inskepticism or indifference or violent self assertionand the turning away to an unfamiliar form of piety
either from a familiar form or from indifference nock
1933 p 7
while most agree that conversion means radicalchange several questions remain unresolved what is itexactly that changes and how much change is necessary or
sufficient for conversion to have occurred does
conversion occur suddenly or is it a gradual change
occurring through a cumulation of experiences over time
does conversion occur with a single event or through a
series of events that occurring simultaneously or
consecutively come together to create this radicalchange pratt 1926 WH clarkdarkmark 19581958p parrucci 1968
lynch 1977 richardson and stewart 1977 richardson1980 bankston et al 1981
the answers to these questions not only lie in the
still unresolved problem of designating the degree of
change required for conversion but also in specifying
exactly what it is that undergoes change Is it beliefsand values behavior and identity interpersonal
7
loyalties or something even more fundamental snow &
machaiekmachalek 1984 p 170
several authors argue that conversion is indeed
much more fundamental than a change in beliefs or
identities mead called it a change in ones universe
of discourse that framework from which one thinks
feels and interprets the events of his life mead
1962 snow & machaiekmachalek 1983 heirich also viewed
conversion as a deep inner change in ones sense of
ultimate grounding or root reality heirich 1977
conversion at this fundamental level is much more
than a change in ones values beliefs and identitiesit means a displacement of one universe of discourse or
world view by another or the ascendance of a formerly
peripheral universe of discourse to the status of a
primary authority this perspective of change in onessense of ultimate grounding helps to better clarifynock it does not restrict conversion to a change inreligious affiliation but focuses on the shift from
periphery to center of the universe of discourse snow &
machaiekmachalek 1984 conversion then becomes a change in
the way one looks at life converts see and thereforeinterpret their life experiences from a different frame
of reference their attitudes and reactions to certainlife events are influenced greatly by the new world
view
8
conversion
snow and machaiekmachalek take the theoretical perspective of
mead and heirich in the development of their typology
if we assume as they do that conversion occurs with a
change in ones universe discourse or world view we
must ask how does this change occur and how much
change is necessary for conversion to occur thesequestions are precisely what the sociologicalperspective and the literature it produces attempt to
understand within the context of the sociologicalperspective conversion is seen as a process one
undergoes the process of changing ones world view
the change is attributed to the development of
friendships and associations with other individuals who
already espouse the new or different world view
the role of interpersonal relationshipsin the conversion process
loflandstarkslofland conversionstarks model introduced theimportance of developing and maintaining interpersonalrelationships in the conversion process they found
that interpersonal contacts with group members were
necessary to orient a potential convert to theorganizations philosophy and were essential for an
individual to maintain affiliation with the group
furthermore they found that without intensiveinteraction joiners did not progress to the state of
conversion referred to as total convert in which
9
for
undergoesthe
f
j oinersbiners
converts were willing to give their entire lives to the
cult lofland & stark 1965 indeed for lofland and
stark conversion ultimately meant coiningcoming to accept theopinions of ones friends lofland & stark 1965 p
871
while most see it as something more than thissociologists increasingly recognize the importance of
social integration in the conversion process since
lofland and stark several others report similarfindings lofland & stark 1965 heirich 1977
richardson 1978 bromley & shupe 1979 downton 1979
snow & phillips 1980 lofland & skonovd 1981 long &
hadden 1983
two schools of thought provide theoretical background
as to the importance of social interaction in theconversion process the first comes from the sociology
of knowledge perspective converts must learn tointerpret life events from the world view of the new
organization this is learned through socializationand continued interaction with others cornwall 1987
1985 berger has noted
the difficulty of keeping the world goingexpresses itself psychologically in the difficultyof keeping this world subjectively plausible theworld is built up in the consciousness of theindividual by conversation with significantothers the world is maintained as subjectivereality by the same sort of conversation be itwith the same or with new significant others ifsuch conversation is disrupted the world beginsto totter to lose its subjective plausibility
10
lofland
19 7 7 jt
withthe
in other words the subjective reality of theworld hangs on the thin thread of conversationberger 1967 ppap 161716
if17
this perspective is correct and the purpose of
the group is primarily cognitive its function is tohelp individuals maintain belief in the religious group
to which they belong cornwall 1987 hougland & wood
1980 gaede 1976
the second school of thought comes from the work of
white and his suggestion that religion is first and
foremost a group phenomenon that is the religiousgroup regardless of its specific identifyingcharacteristics is in the last analysis a group itis composed of people in interaction with one another
for white a religious group like any other group has
a particular normative structure behavioralexpectations of any individual member are normative
expectations he claims the normative expectations of
religious group living are both socialized into the
children or the adult converts and continually
reinforced by the members of the group in interactionwith one another white 1968 p 26
either one of these perspectives gives reasonable
theoretical impetus for the importance of strong
interpersonal ties in the conversion process however
cornwalls work on religious belief and commitment
through personal communities suggests that both the
11
I1social and normative bases of religion are important in
helping the individual to develop and maintain a world
view cornwall 1985
with these theoretical orientations in mind we
will now look at some specific examples of how these
interpersonal bonds have been influential in
individualsindividuals1 joining religious groups first thepractice of love bombing used by the unificationchurch the mooniesmoonvesMo inonies their recruitment efforts and
then stark and bainbridges study of the importance of
interpersonal ties in recruiting new members to threefairly deviant religious movements
the mooniesmoonves
most mooniesmoonves join the movement after attending atleast one of the workshops held to teach some principlesof the divine precepts and to shower the potentialrecruits with love and affection mooniesmoonves call thisintense interaction love bombing O0 they see theirtechniques as a way of treating others as god would but
also realize the power of this tool in recruitment one
moonie went so far as to say that love is more
important than truth mr sudo in barker 1984 p
174
the practice of love bombing has led to the
accusation that mooniesmoonves brainwash their recruits by
overwhelming them with affection which makes it12
farpe
1
difficult if not impossible to resist the movement
while she vehemently opposes the notion of brainwashing
barkers study revealed that guests who attend workshops
are showered with love affection and emotional support
and that love bombing is influential in recruiting new
members barker 1984
bainbridge also found interpersonal bonds to be
essential in the recruitment of mooniesmoonvesmo additionallyonies
he found potential recruits to often move into thecommune prior to professing the moonie philosophy
without intensive interaction with other mooniesmoonvesmo
potentialonies
recruits were not likely to join the movement
bainbridge 1978
stark and bainbridge also explored the significance
of interpersonal bonds in the recruitment process they
illustrated the importance of interpersonal bonds inrecruitment to religious groups by studying three fairlydeviant religious groups that according to stark and
bainbridge survive because of the affective ties thatbind their members together
doomsday group
the first group is the doomsday group this group
formed by spreading along wellestablishedwell interpersonalestablished
ties most recruits had family members who alsobelonged to the group when this was the case
13
defection was very rare because it not only meant a need
to abandon a faithfalth but also familyamily members however
whenever familyamily members were not a part of the group
defection was much more common stark & bainbridge
1985
ananda group
the second group to illustrate the importance of
social bonds was the ananda group most members who
joined this group had been selfprofessedself socialprofessed
isolates previous social ties did not restrain them
from joining the cult and because of this lack of
previous social ties they were very susceptible toforming interpersonal bonds within the ananda group
for these members interpersonal bonds were most
important in their remaining with the group stark &
bainbridge 1985
the mormons
finally stark and bainbridge stark & bainbridge
1985 studied mormon recruitment efforts mormonism
remains a highly conversionist religion and sends
missionaries throughout the world to recruit new
members but the church also continues to emphasize theimportance of interpersonal bonds in the recruitmentprocess mormons are encouraged to develop interpersonalbonds with nonmembers prior to introducing these friendsto mormon theology so that the recruitment of new
14
fa ith f
f
198510
members will be more efficacious when mormon
missionaries go from door to door in search of recruitsthe success rate is only 1.1 however when potentialrecruits are contacted by the missionaries in the home
of a mormon friend or relative the success rate is 50
stark and bainbridge suggest that the high degree of
success purported by mormons gives significant evidence
as to the power of interpersonal bonds in therecruitment and conversion processes they assert thatinterpersonal bonds are a crucial element for any theory
of recruitment that humans desire interpersonal bonds
and that they will try to protect them from rupture even
if that may mean accepting a new religious faith stark& bainbridge 1985 p 1394
these examples of recruitment practices illustratethe importance these groups have placed upon thedevelopment of interpersonal bonds in recruiting new
members clearly the sociological perspective of
conversion has supported the notion of the importance of
developing interpersonal bonds in the conversion
process white was indeed correct when he said thatreligion is first and foremost a group phenomenon
that is the religious group regardless of its specificidentifying characteristics is in the last analysis a
group it is composed of people in interaction with one
another white 1968 p 26
15
the convert as a social type
although lofland and stark admitted thegeneralizability of the model was problematic lofland &
stark 1965 they also hoped to suggest some rudiments
of a general account of conversion to deviantperspective lofland & stark 1965 p 862 theirmodel has been treated by others to be a widely
applicable one richardson & stewart 1977 however
snow has been quite critical of lofland and stark snow
& machaiekmachalek 1984 snow & phillips 1980 in an effortto test its generalizability snow and phillipscritically assessed the loflandstarklofland conversionstark model
by applying its conditions to converts of another
deviant cult the nichirenchirenNi shoshuchoshu buddhist movement in
america NSA
in their assessment snow and phillips found themodel to be lacking in efficiency if not accuracy in
several areas while they did find the characteristicsto be present among some converts they studied they
took issue with lofland and starks claim that all the
elements they specified were necessary for conversion tooccur as well as with their theoretical reasoning forthose elements snow & phillips 1980
these criticisms eventually led snow and machaiekmachalek to
the development of an alternative model snow &
machaiekmachalek 1983 in which they attempt to identify the
16
lofland
0 effortgeneral izabilisabil ity
I1 s
convert as a social type we will now examine snow and
machaieksmachaleks typology and the theoretical perspective
used in its development
snow and machaiekmachalek take the theoretical perspective of
mead and the sociology of knowledge notion of universe
of discourse they attempt to characterize conversion
as a change in one universe of discourse or root
reality they agree with mead that conversion is much
more fundamental than a change in values beliefs and
behaviors and they argue that conversion occurs only
when there is a change in the universe of discoursesnow & machaiekmachalek 1983
along with the change in ones universe of discoursesnow and machaiekmachalek contend that ones language and
reasoning also changes to express the change in
discourse they argue that it is this change inlanguage and reasoning that must be used to empiricallyassess when conversion has occurred their model of theconvert as a social type suggests four properties of
language and reasoning by which a convert can be
identified each of these four properties will be
discussed brieflybiographical reconstruction
snow and phillips overall criticism of lofland
starks model is that it is empirically questionable
and theoretically unfounded they contend that it17
briefly
ignores the fact that motives for behavior are
generally emergent and interactional it also assumes
that the explanations given by converts for theirconversion were necessarily those that motivated or
precipitated it in the first place snow & phillips1980 p 443 an assumption to which snow and phillipsheartily disagree snow asserts that with conversion
the converts understanding of self past events and
others changes they see their past motives and actionsas being misguided and incorrect with their new faitha new understanding of their world and why events occur
also appears snow & machaiekmachalek 1983 thisbiographical reconstruction of the past is evident in
the converts speech and reasoning
adoptionadoptiondoption of a master attribution scheme
attribution refers to the cognitive process by which
people form causal interpretations of the behavior of
self and others and the events around them snow &
machaiekmachalek 1983 p 269 these causal attributionsinterpretations are not merely a function of ones
perceptual and logical faculties they are alsocircumscribed by causal schemata the generalconceptions people have about how certain kinds ofcauses interact to produce a specific kind of effectkelley 1972 p 151 when attempting to explain the
cause of a certain event individuals usually have
18
several different causal schemata from which the event
could be explained converts however adopt a master
attribution scheme they explain events from one causal
schemata feelings behavior and events that were
previously inexplicable or accounted for by reference toa number of causal schemes are now interpreted fromfron thestandpoint of one pervasive scheme
suspension of analogicalantAng reasoninglogicalthe almost sacred nature of the converts new world
view makes it unacceptable to compare it to any other
therefore analogical metaphors those which demonstrate
how one thing is like another are rejectrejected iconicmetaphors those that portray the uniqueness of
something are however allowed because they can help
to establish the uniqueness of the group and its world
view to those of the group itself as well as to thosewho are outside the group the converts world view isseen as superior to any other and suspending
analogical reasoning allows converts to assignincomparable value to their world view by removing
other belief systems from the status of eligiblecompetition a virtually impermeable boundary isestablished around the converts world view snow &
machaiekmachalek 1983 p 275
19
fromron
view
edO
embracement of the master roleroieembracement of the master role is characterized by a
generalization of ones conversion from the religiousaspect of ones life to all aspects of life converts
feel their actions in all situationssituationsbe be that work
school play with other individuals or alone are a
reflection of their commitment to the movement they now
espouse they feel a responsibility to create a
positive image of the movement for others and by so
doing they further the cause of the movement by
providing others with an opportunity to see its good
investigate its principles and values and possibly join
it converts do not hide their new identity to thecontrary they enthusiastically announce it in allsituations and they do not let others forget iteither they cannot for it is indeed a way of life forthe convert metaphorically it is not merely a mask
that is taken off or put on according to the situationrather it is central to all situations for theconvert such role identities as father mother
brother sister student and so on pale in comparison
to the role identity of the convert snow & machaiekmachalek
1983 p 278
each dimension in snow and machaieksmachaleks typology
involves a change in the cognitive process which they
assert necessitates a change in the converts language
20
R
aloneare
they argue that membership avowal actual membership
status and participation are inadequate indicators of
conversion instead they claim that focusing on
language is invaluable when evaluating conversion
because it signifies a change in the converts universe
of discourse snow & machaiekmachalek 1983 it is theconverts rhetoric that sets him or her apart from
fellow group members
where do we go from heresnow and machaiekmachalek conclude that the loflandstarklofland
conversionstark
model is empirically questionable and
theoretically unfounded snow & phillips 1980 p
871 snow and machaiekmachalek believe their typology linksthe theoretical background of universe of discourse tothe empirical indicators used in their model rhetoricalindicators they argue that converts can be ascertainedby the language and reasoning they use because itreflects a change in their universe of discourse
our review of the literature indicates that as of
yet snow and machaieksmachaleks typology has not been tested as
to its effectiveness in demonstrating conversion inthe chapters that follow the procedure used tocritically assess the typology by applying it to britishmormon converts will be outlined we will discuss in
detail the process as well as the difficultiesencountered in our assessment and we will present our
21
pe
in modelrhetorical
results finally we will present our own theoreticalperspective regarding a dimensionaltwodimensionaltwo change thatoccurs with conversion and how the change transpires
22
chapter 2
methodology
the current study is a secondary analysis of data
collected by the research and evaluation division of the
correlation department of the church of jesus christ of
latterdaylatter saintsday the british activity study thepurpose for the original study was to better understandhow the church was functioning in the british isleswhat difficulties its leaders and members were
experiencing and to suggest possible solutions to theseproblems
part of the original study included data collectionfrom two groups of individuals from which this study
draws its data first new converts and second
nonparticipating members the research methods used indata collection as well as the procedures used in thecurrent study will be outlined
unit selectionpreliminary research indicated that although the
british isles are relatively small geographically starkdifferences exist between different regions of thecountries especially concerning economic and socialissues in order to make the research as generalizableas possible several regions were visited twelve areaswere selected as research sites
23
countriesespecially
these areas were not randomly selected rather they
were selected by a critical review of all the availableinformation regarding geographic economic and socialconditions as well as statistical reports regarding how
well the church was functioning in each area the
research sites included selected areas in england
ireland northern ireland scotland and wales members
of a four person research team all americans trained in
the area of social science research spent one week in
each area with the exception of one area in england
due to time constraints the research team was unable to
visit one of the designated areas therefore a britishLDS church member with a phd in the social sciences was
employed to collect data in this area
sample selection and response raterespondents from each of the twelve research sites
were randomly selected from a list of church members
provided to the research team by the churchs area
headquarters this list provided information regarding
the dates of baptism for each member the sample forthe first group consisted of members who had been
baptized within the eighteen months prior to the studyany one who fit this criterion was considered to be a
new convert and was therefore eligible to be
interviewed as such the second group calledinactivesinac consistedtives of individuals who were classified
24
as nonparticipators by the ecclesiastical leader of the
unit being visitedin each of the research sites a ten per cent sample
of both groups was drawn each selected respondent was
visited in his or her home by a member of the researchteam tables 1 and 2 indicate the overall response ratefor new convert and inactive households the tablesindicate that 29 and 31 per cent of the new convert and
inactive sample respectively had moved were not able
to be located or were never home
table 1
response rate among new convert households
percent
M1
I1
households
moveddvedaved unableo0to locate
neverlever home
19
29
e
refused
5
8
interviewed
39
60
total
65
100
the research team attempted to contact sample
respondents several times while in the area and atdiffering times of the day A minimum of three attempts
to contact each potential respondent were made but even
with repeated attempts the response rate for new
converts and inactivesinac wastives 60 and 47 per cent
respectively25
table 2
response rate among inactive households
moved unableto locatenever home refused interviewed total
households 38 28 58 124
percent 31 23 47 100
totals do not equal 100 due to rounding errors
we recognize the inherent sampling problems and
realize that our results may not be representative of
all converts however our effort to obtain respondents
in the different regions of the country provides us with
an ability to generalize our results at least across
those areas visited and give a representative picture of
those interviewed since the current study involves a
secondary analysis of selected interviews and is a
preliminary theoretical assessment of the conversion
typology it is advantageous to use the data available
interview scheduleschedaall interviews were semistructuredsemi interviewsstructured with
new converts focused on 1 background information
where they were born how they came to join the church
what they remember about being a new member 2 theirbeliefs and values 3 how they felt about the LDS
church 4 significant events and relationships which
26
e
may have contributed to their beliefsbeliefbellef and values and
5 what contact they had with other church members A
copy of the interview schedule can be found in theappendices appendix 1
the original interview schedule was designed to
better understand the experiences and feelings of
individual church members toward the organization our
assessment of the typology is a secondary analysis of
the interviews and is therefore subject to all theproblems that accompany a secondary analysis researchprojbroj ectact
each interview lasted from 30 to 60 minutes and was
taped for later transcription at the conclusion of theinterview the following data were collected in the form
of a questionnaire respondents age at baptism priorreligious affiliation parentsparents1 religious affiliationselfevaluationself ofevaluation how religious he or she was church
callings and amount of time spent in the calling and
relative demographic information were collected in theform of a questionnaire appendix 2 data from both
the interviews and questionnaires will be used in thepresent study
current studyA sample size of 41 was used in the current study
it is preferable to have a larger sample however we
are constrained to the available data and feel it is a
27
s
project
from
1
worthwhile effort to begin to understand the dynamics ofmormon conversion in spite of the obvious difficultiesthat arise because of our sample
fortyeightforty respondentseight from both the afore mentioned
groups were eligible for the current study however 7
were discarded for one of two reasonsreason either0 there was
a spouse present during the interview which made itdifficult to assess the respondents ability to feelcomfortable in speaking freely or the respondent was an
american living in the united kingdom
whenever possible couples were interviewedseparately however circumstances beyond the controlof the interviewer sometimes prevented this this lack
of privacy was problematic therefore four of theseinterviews were discarded because preliminary reading
indicated that one spouse had been a member for severalyears in these cases the convert did not dominate theconversation we elected to use the other four pairs of
husbandwifehusband convertswife in our analysis since it was a
preliminary research effort and we wanted to have as
many respondents as possible for analysis
assessment of the typology
our assessment of the snow machaiekmachalek conversion
typology ability to demonstrate conversion among
mormon converts consists of both qualitative and
quantitative analyses two raters initially read each
28
s
sl
tle
interview and qualitatively determined whether a
respondent demonstrated the characteristics delineated
in the typology this led to the development of an
application of the typology to mormonism which was
tested by a third raters qualitative assessment of each
respondent the third rater was given the added benefitof the application to mormonism to facilitateassessment
measures of conversion
quantitative measures were also employed in our
assessment of the typology and its ability to predictconversion pearsons r was used to determine thedegree of association between the dimensions of thetypology and measures of conversion the following
conversion measures were used 1 attendance at theweekly worship services sacrament meeting 2
participating in the organization by having a callingperforming a specific task for the religious group
and 3 a selfevaluationself theevaluation respondents personal
religiosity
measures of social integration
the final assessment of the conversion typology
involved the use of pearsons r to determine the degree
of association between the dimensions of the typology
and measures of social integration these measures
29
included 1 having an active LDS spouse 2 thenumber of active LDS family members excluding spouse
3 the number of active LDS friends in the ward and
4 wardfit how well the respondent felt he or she fitin with other ward members
the statistical package of SPSSX was used to perform
all statistical analyses the results of these as well
as a qualitative analysis of the typology will be
presented in subsequent chapters
30
chapter 3
analysis of the snow machaiekmachalek conversion typologyas applied to mormons
the goal of this study was to determine if the snow
machaiekmachalek conversion typology applied to mormon convertsone possible assumption in this application could have
been if the typology fits mormon converts must
express the dimensions of the typology in the same way
as did the nicherenNi shoshuchoshucheren converts snow & machaiekmachalek
1983 however this assumption is in direct conflictwith snow and machaieksmachaleks concept of conversion and a
change in ones universe of discoursethey claim that with conversion the converts
universe of discourse changes the logical conclusion
is that this change must be congruent with thephilosophy of the group joined therefore converts to
the nicherenNi shoshuchoshucheren group would express the dimensions
in a different way than mormon converts mormonism has
a unique philosophy not found in other religious groups
snow and machaieksmachaleks argument indicates that mormon
converts must use language and reasoning patterns thatare congruent to mormonism not nicherenNi shoshusShcheren
therefore
oshus
it was important to identify how mormon
converts expressed the dimensions of the typology thiswas accomplished by the authors preliminary readings of
31
the interviews in an effort to begin to understandmormon converts speech and reasoning patterns
after establishing this initial understanding ofmormon convertsconverts1 expression of the typology theinterviews were read and each respondent was assessed as
to whether he or she demonstrated the characteristics of
the typology three raters all graduate students insociology at brigham young university read and assessed
the interviews two of the raters including the author
of this thesis were practicing members of the mormon
church the other rater was not affiliated with a
christian church
the use of the author as a rater is consistent with
traditional qualitative research methods in which theauthor of the research typically analyzes and interpretsthe data charney 1986 miles & huberman 1984 thisprocedure allows the researcher to capitalize on his or
her ability to interpret and synthesize the researchexperience as the study progresses glaser & strauss1970
initially the interviews were read and evaluated by
only two raters the author and the nonaffiliated raterafter both raters had read and categorized each
respondent they compared their results and discussed
areas of disagreement finally they reached a
32
1
difdlf f icultscult 1
consensus decision as to whether or not a particularrespondent demonstrated a dimension
this process led us to the development of an
application of the snow machaiekmachalek conversion typology tomormonism As a final check of the effectiveness of
this application a third rater read and evaluated theinterviews this final rater had the benefit of the
instructions developed from the previous processproceappendixADDen 3dix
several difficulties were encountered in our attempt
to apply the typology to mormon converts the following
discussion outlines the process used in applying thetypology to mormonscormonsMor themons problems we encountered and how
we compensated for these problems and finally an
assessment of how well the typology fit mormonism
generalizability and fit to mormonism
our first task was to understand snow and machaieksmachalekstypology to accomplish this the first two raters read
and discussed the article which outlines the convert as
a social type snow & machaiekmachalek 1983 each
characteristic was discussed in detail so as to be sure
both raters understood the typology in the same way
examples given by snow and machaiekmachalek as well as the
authorauthors assessment of how mormons illustrated thetypology were also discussed
33
f rom ss
es
anden
snow and machaleks article outlines the four
characteristics of the typology the theoreticalreasoning and support for each and examples they found
among the nicherenNi shoshuchoshucheren converts their discussionwas condensed into a series of concise statements of themajor premises in order to facilitate analysis by
using these concise statements and examples of how
mormons seemed to demonstrate the dimensions it was
easier to evaluate whether or not the respondents
demonstrated the dimensions A discussion of how mormon
converts demonstrated the characteristics of thetypology follows
the major premises of each property will be
described examples from the nicherenNi shoshuchoshucheren and mormon
converts will be compared and contrasted this willclarify the properties outlined by snow and machaiekmachalek and
demonstrate how mormon converts expressed theseproperties
biographical reconstructionsnow and machaieksmachaleks main theme of biographical
reconstruction is that at some point the convertsunderstanding about self past events and otherschanges he or she sees past motives and actions as
being misguided and incorrect with a new faith a new
understanding of his or her world and why events occur
also appears
34
I1 avoided looking at this untilchanting brought out the wisdom that could help mesee such problems
35
mormon converts demonstrated this definition in much
the same way that nicherenNi shoshuchoshucheren converts did it was
not necessary to redefine the terms that snow and
machaiekmachalek used in their analysis of a nonchristianchristianNon group
to a christian group however it was necessary when
deciding whether or not a respondent was using
biographical reconstruction to not confuse purely
behavioral issues with the cognitive process thatindicates biographical reconstruction we were looking
for a evaluationreevaluationre or reinterpretation of the converts
lives not a behavioral change
examples from the nicherenNi shoshuchoshucheren and mormon converts
will be given in order to clarify the types of
statements made by each group and add clarity through
examples of what is meant by each characteristic in thetypology first examples from snow and machaiekmachalek willbe given then mormon converts demonstration of
biographical reconstruction will be given
male white single under 30 at the timeI1 joined I1 was involved in a hippietypehippiephilosophy
typeand consequently I1 felt that I1 had no
need for any material belongings in order toattain happiness it seems unbelievable nowbecause of my erroneous concept of a happy life I1was totally blind to my actual condition whichwas miserable
female white single under 30 chantinghas cleared up my mind enough to see that in theyears before I1 chanted I1 had many misconceptionsabout life
j oinedcoined
female white single under 30approximately a year ago before conversion 0 ebileiebl
was going around screaming and protesting for whatI1 thought was the right cause little did I1 knowthat I1 wasnt making the right cause and that I1was creating so much antivalueant inivalue my life
female white single 16 beforediscovering NSA I1 almost flunked out of schoolall I1 ever thought about was the weekend the guyI1 was going out with and getting high with myfriends i was really a bum what I1 thoughtwas the real cool way to be was really very phony
the following are examples of biographicalreconstruction found in mormonism
male white single early twenties my
life has totally changed 100 its totallyturned around to how I1 was ive got things I1still talk back to my mum ive got to controlthat my attitude everythings changed I1 usedto be so what if you knock off a woman or if yousteal something from a shop I1 knew it was wrongbut my attitude was like everybody elsesalses
female white single mid twenties I1seem to see them family in a different lightbecause before you say things you didnt carewhat you say or anything but im starting torealize that sometimes I1 was the type of personand sometimes still am that would just saythings who ran off and didnt really care who I1hurt or annoyed but then when I1 joined thechurch I1 realized that some of the things I1 wassaying then when I1 joined the church I1 seemed tosee the people I1 watched I1 was able to talkbetter tell my mommy and daddy about religioneven because before I1 wouldnt have mentionednothing I1 would have kept it all to myself butim able to talk even with my mommy and daddyabout the church and even my brotherbr
female
othereotherO
white married mid thirties my
life changed completely it did a full turnabout everything changed it changed the way I1thought changed the way I1 looked at me as aperson I1 liked myself much much better I1hated myself before I1 joined the church I1 didntlike me at all because I1 thought I1 was making I1
36
really
thingsithatmy
J oinedcoined
makingi
shoshuchoshu and mormons show how theseconverts view their past life differently from theirpresent one they see themselves as happier more
fulfilled and with a more purposeful life they
attribute these changes to joining the religious group
A summary of snow and machaleks major premises of
biographical reconstruction and of how mormon convertsmost often indicated these premises appears in table 3
37
oinedcoined didndian I1 t
was making a mess of my life I1 wondered why mymarriage was wrong I1 wondered what id donewrong to make it failailfaliallali I1 couldntcouldncoulden understand whyI1 lost my dad who was one of my best friends I1couldnt understand why I1 couldnt have anychildren there were so many things questionswere left unanswered and when I1 joined thechurch I1 gradually found answers to all thequestions id been asking and it helped me andI1 felt good about it
male white single early twentiesalthough I1 thought I1 knew how to pray before I1
joined the church I1 didnt and its only nowthat im starting to feel that god is a personclose to me and a very good friend and that ismaking all the difference in my life my lifesince september has improved so many times that I1cant count them and its continuing to do so
male white single early twenties I1found that at one time I1 thought I1 used to be veryhappy and then after I1 joined the church I1 foundthat well I1 wasnt it was just content withlife I1 think the greatest happiness and joy thatI1 felt was again going back to me baptism becauseit took me about three weeks to come down to earthagain and live a normal life I1 was still up oncloud nine but generally speaking again sinceive joined the church ive been a lot happier andive had a lot more joy in me lifethese examples of biographical reconstruction from
both the nicherenNicheren
f 1 t
j oinedcoined
it I1 s
f
30
table 3
definitions of biographicalreconstruction and indications
among mormons
snow and machaiekmac2alemachalekmaccaleA dissolution of the pastand its subsequent reco-nstitution the past isnot only shattered thedisjointed pieces arereassembled in accordancewith the new universe ofdiscourse and its grammar
mormonism
A dissolution of the pastand its subsequent reco-nstitution the past isis not only shattered thethe disjointed pieces arereassembled in accordancewith the new universe ofdiscourse and its grammar
converts seldom seem totire of reminding othershow they have changed howtheir life has improvedhow they not only seethings more clearly nowbut also differentlydifferent
converts
lyeiye
express waysin which their life haschanged and improvedhow their attitudes aboutright and wrong havechanged and how they cansee things differently aswell as more clearly
old facts and aspectsof ones biography arethus given new meaningsnot only are formeridentities evaluatednegatively but the courseand character of theconverts life history istypically reconstructed astroublesome misdirectedeven loathsome
old facts and aspects ofof ones biography arethus given new meaningsnot only are formeridentities evaluatednegatively but the courseand character of theconverts life history istypically reconstructed astroublesome misdirectedeven loathsome
adoption of a master attribution scheme
the evaluation of mormon converts according to thisdimension hereafter referred to as master attributionwas more difficult than with biographical
38
k
ado tion
stitution stitution
reconstruction it was necessary to couch thisdimension in a mormon philosophy the major premise of
master attribution is that feelings behavior and
events that were previously inexplicable or accounted
for by reference to a number of causal schemes are now
interpreted from the standpoint of one pervasive scheme
this shift to a master attribution scheme is frequentlyaccompanied by a shift in causal locus that isconverts now avow personal responsibility where prior to
conversion they blamed others for their situationmormon converts demonstrated master attribution as an
expression of gods power in their lives they
expressed the notion that god has a purpose and events
occur because itis his will As his children theseconverts felt it their responsibility to alignthemselves with gods will and that by doing so they
would be blessed examples from the two groups willshow both similarities and differences detected in thischaracteristic of the typology
examples from snow and machalekmachaiek
koestler something clicked in my brainwhich shook me like a mental explosion thewhole universe fell into pattern like the straypieces of a jigsaw puzzle assembled by magic atone stroke there was now an answer to everyquestion doubts and conflicts were a matter ofthe tortured past
male white 28 if you think a woman hasno fortune or a certain man has no fortune who dowe blame we look outside and say its societys
39
fault or the woman says its mans fault russiasays it is americas fault and we say itsrussias fault somebody at work told me about aTV program on the correctional system incalifornia the criminals say that theyve beenin jail too long and that this system doesntwork so they blame the system for their faultthe systems fault the countrys fault theenvironments fault the spouses fault actuallythe only one or thing at fault is ourself
male black single 25 my karma used tobe really bad it was apparent to most everyonebut me I1 bounced from one job to another and wasreally irresponsible only I1 didnt know it thenit was always somebody elses fault or at least I1thought so it is only recently that I1 have cometo realize that I1 was having these problemsbecause of me there is no blaming others now
the following examples show how mormon converts
demonstrated master attribution the first threeexamples demonstrate the converts sense that god is in
control the fourth shows how the convert understands
his personal responsibility to do gods will and the
fifth example demonstrates the notion of two opposing
forces in the world and the converts responsibility tostay on gods side
female white married early forties andI1 was reading this book and it come to the bitabout baptism and there was one particularparagraph it was about baptism and there wassomething or someone stopping me from getting anyfurther I1 couldnt go above this passage and I1couldnt get below it I1 was just had to keepreading this particular I1 cant even tell youwhat it was now it was ironic no it was justsomething that just someone was sort of likemaking me read this passage and I1 kept readingit and everytimeevery I1time tried to get past it I1couldnt until in the end I1 accepted I1 saidalright I1 understand ill be baptized itwasnt that I1 minded it but once I1 seemed to say
40
I1 I1 m
that then I1 was allowed to carry on reading thebook
female white divorced mid thirties I1just I1 feel that I1 belong and this is wellits what ive been searching for because I1 haveI1 did go to church a lot not a lot I1 wentregularly but I1 never really knew why or what I1was looking for I1 knew what I1 wanted to do butnever this has brought all of this to light I1just feel better about myself you know that I1know myself and I1 know what im supposed to bedoing and the things that I1 would like to do thatI1 can do its nice to know where were goingwhen we do die when we leave here its nice toknow that well meet up again sometime you knowthats very nice
female white divorced mid thirties I1talked to god for quite a lot I1 pray but I1 alsohave a conversation and its given me a lot ofstrength and help if I1 go for an interview orsomething I1 sort of say give me a hand todayand this sort of thing you feel confident I1think because youve got somebody on your sideand this sort of thing
female white single early thirties I1think before I1 didnt believe that there as acelestial kingdom and that sort of thing I1 knowthere is I1 know if I1 can stay worthy to thechurch I1 can go there and hopefully be with myfamily where before I1 didnt even believe inthat but I1 used to think well if I1 go I1 gosort of thing so im sort of looking forward tothat it makes me be a better person and I1 thinkthats what keeps me close to the church now andthats where I1 want to be
male white single mid twentieseverybody opposes me joining the church butthats building my testimony its strengtheningit not weakening it so I1 know thats satanworking trying to get me to leave the churchits not going to work hes not going to defeatme its just strengthening my testimony italways is theres no doubts at allthese examples show how converts experience a
realization of why certain events have occurred they
41
lotnot
come to an understanding of their purpose in life and
express a desire to live as they believe god would have
them so as to be able to return to his presence table4 summarizes snow and machaleks definitions of master
attribution and how mormon converts demonstrated them
table 4
definitions of adoption of a mastermaster attribution scheme and indications
among mormons
snow and machaiekmachalek
A master attributionscheme is substituted fora series of multipleattribution schemes thatwere used previously
mormonism
converts take a positionthat god is in controlevents occur for reasonsgod knows and he willhelp those who acknowledgehis power
A switch in causal locusprobably a frequentconcomitant of conversionin general
converts recognize theirresponsibility to alignthemselves with godswill
A shift in the perceivedlocus of causality is notunique to religious andpersonal growth movementsit is also frequently aconstituent element ofconversion to movementsthat seek change bydirectly altering socio-political structures
two opposing forces existin the universe andconverts have a respo-nsibility to placethemselves on the paththat god has made byresisting evil and doinghis will in order toreturn to him
suspension of analogical reasoning
the third characteristic in snow and machalekstypology is suspension of analogical reasoning
42
ana logical
sibility
converts suspend the use of all analogies as they
explain their conversion experiences and they are
defensive when outsiders use analogies to describe the
beliefs and practices of their group snow and machaiekmachalek
used durkheimsDurk argumentheims of the sacred and profane
durkheimwurkheimDur 1915kheim to support this notion and saw thissuspension as a means whereby converts assignincomparable value to their world view by removing
other belief systems from the status of eligiblecompetition a virtually impermeable boundary isestablished around the converts view snow & machaiekmachalek
19831983f p 275 the following are examplesexample snow and
machaiekmachalek used to illustrate suspension of analogicalreasoning among nicherenNi shoshuchoshucheren converts
response of NSA convert upon hearing someonesuggest that shakubukuShaku isbuku just likeproselytizing shakubukuShaku andbuku proselytizingarent the samel shakubukuShaku isbuku to tell somebodyabout nam myohoryoho renge kyo it is a great act ofmercy and compassion whereas to proselytize is toput pressure on people and force them to come tomeetings the two arent the same
while talking with a middlelevelmiddle leaderlevelfollowing a chantingconversionchanting meetingconversion the topicturned to daisakedaisuke ikeda the movements formalpresident and inspirational leader or master asmembers refer to him having observed andexperienced the highly emotional response ikedaspresence elicits from members I1 indicated that hestruck me as being a charismatic individual inresponse the middlelevelmiddle leaderlevel with whom I1 wasspeaking bristled and emphatically stated thatikeda is not a charismatic individual president
kennedy and martin luther king were charismaticbut president ikeda in not he is anextraordinary man but he is not like other major
43
s
j u s tsame
I1 always felt it was my houseand these are my brothers and sisters and my momand dad that type of thing
this familial analogy is not surprising becausemormon doctrine teaches a sibling relationship between
all men and women they refer to one another as
brother and sister
remerenemberaber
figures and leaders you cant compare presidentikeda with them hes unique
mormon converts manifested this dimension in a
different way first they used analogies to talk about
their feelings regarding their relationships with otherchurch members As they discussed this they talkedabout the friendliness the warmth and caring they feltfrom others and how they felt as if it were a family
the following examples illustrate how respondents
describe how they felteltfeiteit while attending church by
comparing it to family relationshipsmale white divorced early twenties I1
just felt this really wonderful feeling I1couldnt believe it the feeling I1 was feelingcalm I1 tell you the feeling it was likeilke it waslike what I1 remember before when my mum and dadwere together and we used to be a familytogether and it was like you felt secure youfelt happy
female white divorced late twentiesfrom the start
in spite of these familial analogies another aspect
of their speech and reasoning seemed to support
durkheimsDurk conceptheims separating the sacred from theprofane durkheimwurkheimDur 1915kheim this separation was manifest
in two ways first mormon converts expressed
44
f
likeit
dadthat
1I couldnttell you how I1 felt when I1 went under that waterill never be able to if I1 live to be 200explain I1 felt that all the horrible things ofthe past this is the first time that ive spokenabout them and im speaking about them withoutthe shivers thats all been wiped out
female white divorced mid thirtieswhat was it about the church that you decided
that it was what you were looking for thatsdifficult I1 dont know I1 think its thecontinuing friendship and its something that I1cant explain I1 just ive just got this feelingthat this church is different to the otherchurches its something that I1 cant reallyexplain what it is really but you can feel thefriendship when you go into the church and youare part of it you feel that your children andyour family matter theres a sense of belongingreally
male white single mid twenties itsrealizing the jesus christ is my savior itshard to put into words something that you cantreally explain its hard to explain to somebodybut something I1 know myself but I1 cant expressin words how im feeling its hard to explain
examples of the notion of the true church
male white divorced early twenties I1know why ive gone like I1 have because I1 know itstrue I1 know what im doing is right cause ive
45
difficulty in describing their spiritual experiences
second growing out of the mormon practice of testimony
bearing converts proclaimed the truthfulness of theirreligion they set mormonism apart by contending thatit was different from anything they had previously
experienced examples of both these manifestations
follow
examples of the difficulty in explaining theirexperiences
female white divorced 60
pastthis
I1 I1 ve
found out about it and its not because I1 feltso bad and guilty that I1 should change my waysits because of whats happened to me and whatjesus christ had done for me I1 know what he done
female white married mid thirties I1feel that its a good thing really because like I1said its changed my life al lot and theexperiences that ive had I1 think its prettygood and I1 know its true because ivelve prayedabout it and everything I1 felt like a burningfeeling within me
female white divorced mid fortieswhat are the important things in the church to
you I1 dont know really theres a lot itshard to put a finger on any in particular but I1know joseph smith was a true prophetpropheteprop howhetehetO do youknow that because I1 do because I1 prayed aboutit I1 prayed about it before I1 got baptized andI1 also know that the church of jesus christ is thetrue church the only true church
these examples demonstrate how mormon converts
expressed suspension of analogical reasoning thisdimension was the most difficult to apply upon
discovering the familial analogies our firstirstarstinclination was to discount it as not applying to mormon
converts however with the two manifestations of
separating the sacred from the profane we decided tonot exclude the dimension at this point table 5
indicates snow and machaleks generalizations of thisdimension and how mormon converts demonstrated it
46
it I1 s
churchthe
f
table 5
definitions of suspension of analogicalreasoning and indications
among mormons
snow and machaiekmachalmachalekmachai mormomormon ism
converts typically suspend converts demonstratethe use of analogical difficulty in describingmetaphors when talking religious experiencesabout their beliefs and they frequently usepractices expressions like I1 cant
really describe it andit was like nothing I1
have ever experienced
analogical metaphors are converts set mormonismresisted because they from other religiousviolate the converts organizations with theposition that his or her notion that it is rightworld view is incomparable that it is different fromto other world views other churches that it is
the true church 11
embracement of the master roleroiesnow and machaiekmachalek define embracement of the master
role as a generalization of ones conversion from thereligious aspect to all aspects of his or her lifenicherenNi shoshuchoshucheren converts proudly proclaimed theirconversion without hesitation in a variety of settingshowever mormon converts demonstrated this dimension
more subtly they talked about serving god and helping
others to join their religion by being a good example
contrary to the nicherenNi shoshuchoshucheren mormon converts
hesitated to talk too freely with nonmembers about their
47
ek
lero
oinedcoined
conversion several experienced problems with othersparticularly family members who would not allow them to
discuss religion or who decided to discontinuerelationships with these individuals because they had
joined the church these converts desired to share
their newfound faith with others but expressed caution
in doing so because they feared being sanctioned
examples from both convert groups will illustrate the
similarities and differences between them
examples from snow and machaleks articleexplained by a major leader of NSA to a
large group of members the relationship of NSAto the other people in society with whom we worklive and meet every day is very important weshould keep in mind that how we live our dailylife is an exact image of the entire movement weshould become people of whom others will say themembers of NSA are really great 11 to do that isto advance our cause therefore in every actionyou make and in every activity you participateyou can be carrying out the movements mission
NSA convert who aspired to be a nationallyrecognized tennis player before I1 started tochant I1 had no concrete purpose in playingtennis I1 used to think of all the troubles otherpeople had and tennis seemed like a joke but atthose last two tennis tournaments I1 felt like I1was playing for world peace
born again basketball player As I1 standat midcourtmid duringcourt halftime at the AIA gamesgiving my personal testimony to gods love myheart swells with the joy of being a christianmost people spend their lives investing forretirement I1 spend mine investing for eternity
the following examples show how mormon converts
demonstrated embracement of the master role the first
48
0
halftime
two examples show how converts desire to serve god and
others the third illustrates the respondentsunderstanding that her primary purpose is to live a good
life and strive to do what god wants and the finalexample demonstrates the converts desire to share her
conversion with others but also her hesitancy to do so
male white married early thirties myduty is to help others fall in the way tochrist the truth has got to be simple so plain
male white divorced early twenties I1just want to serve the lord in everythingeverything I1 do whatever he wants me to do illdo it with my hand in yours wasnt it gowhere you want me to go
female white divorced mid thirties I1think you have to study the scriptures pray I1think keep an open mind I1 think you also do itby helping other people I1 think you get a lot ofhappiness back and the feeling of satisfactionfrom helping other people and this sort of thing
female white widow 60 for everydayyou know it helps you on for all we just lead anordinary simple life we found that it makes a bigdifference it makes you more tolerant towardsother people and to my way when I1 see peoplelike outside that I1 know for a fact theyve gotproblems I1 would just love to be able to go up tothem and tell them what their life could be likeif but its something like you cannot just go upto them and try to tell them that they could maketheir lives better if they wanted to but youdont know which way people would react becausesharon and me joined the church and the rest ofthe family dont agree with itiitmormon converts expressed embracement of the master
role as a desire to serve god and help others they
maintained that by doing so they would realize theirgoal of obtaining the right to live with god helping
49
ifbut
others and sharing their newfound faith promotes
happiness on earth and assures them the right to be withgod in the afterlife A summary of snow and machaleks
definitions and how mormon converts most oftendemonstrated embracement of the master role appears in
table 6
table 6
definitions of embracement of themaster role and indications
among mormons
snow and machaiekMachalmachalekmachaigeneralization ratherthan compartmentalizationof the convert role andits embracement by theconvert
mormonism
converts generalize theirconversion in that theyunderstand that theirpurpose is to live goodlives in order to returnto gods presence
the convert role is arepresentative role inthat whatever they docollectively or indivi-dually whether in thecontext of family workschool or leisure it isto be done with theinterests of the movementin mind
converts are to be goodexamples to others servegod and others and domissionary work to helpothers experience theirsame happiness
converts enthusiasticallyannounce their identity inearly all situationsthey seldom let othersforget this role identityduring the course ofinteraction
converts relate sens-itivity towards being toovocal concerning theirconversion suggestingthey already have beensanctioned because of it
50
def in itionsirions
gk
when the first two raters completed assessing theinterviews they held two consensus sessions to discuss
the results of their assessment and come to an agreement
as to how well each respondent demonstrated indicated
the four dimensions of the typology first the raterscompared their assessment of the respondents when
disagreement occurred the specific example from theinterview was discussed in detail so as to determine why
the rater coded the interview as she did the raterexplained her rationale for assigning a given quote intothe particular dimension in question that explanation
was then placed within the context of thegeneralizations of the dimension to determine how well
it fit the terms set forth by snow and machalek ifboth agreed that the rationale fit the typology then
the respondent was coded as demonstrating thecharacteristic
in some cases the raters were unable to agree how an
example fit the dimensions of the typology thereforea final session was held with the two raters and theadvisor of this thesis in this final session the same
procedure was followed as before however with the
additional insight of the advisor our understanding of
the typology was broadened and we were able to see more
clearly if a respondent was demonstrating the dimensions
of the typology
51
ionlon f
areas of disagreement in the assessmentof the typology
in the final session with the thesis advisor thetypes of disagreement that occurred in applying the
typology were discussed four general areas of
disagreement occurred between the two raters 1 the
difficulty in applying the scheme to mormonscormonsMor 2mons a
different perception of the typology between the raters3 a temporal question regarding when the phenomenon
occurred and 4 one of the raters overlooking an
example of the typology table 7 shows the types of
errors in agreement encountered and their frequency of
occurrence each area will be discussed in detail so as
to clarify the difficulty experienced in applying thetypology
table 7
differences in agreement of the typologyand frequency of occurrence
tydetype of disagreement totaldifficulty in applying 10scheme to mormons
different perception 13of typology
temporal issue 4
overlooked 13examples
transcription errors 1
total 41
of total types
24
32
10
32
2
100
52
sess
difficultydifficultyiDiffiCult in applying the scheme to mormons
the first area of disagreement occurred because of
the difficulty in applying the typology to mormonism
even with the measures taken prior to beginning theanalysis it was not always easy to determine what
characteristic was being illustrated As the ratersdiscussed their differences they found that in tryingto overcome this difficulty they sometimes looked fora characteristic if a quote even vaguely illustrated a
dimension it was used however because these examples
were so vague the other rater did not always see them
as an example of the typology the following quote
exemplifies this problem
male white single mid twenties I1 feelthat im helped by god throughout life how doyou feel youre helped by him well say ifyoure going to play a football match beforeyou say a prayer before you say you know havea good game and dont get hurt and that likelywill help you have that again
one of the raters saw this as an example of master
attribution because the respondent attributed hissuccess and safety in a football match to something
other than himself however taking the quote in
context created confusion for the raterdiffering perceptions of the typology
the second area of disagreement occurred when theraters perceptions of the typology were inconsistentwith one another this usually occurred when one of the
53
tydotypo ogyagy1
yin APplvingthe
BOTbox n
scrbcriptures
raters reasoned that because of the phraseology used by
the respondent some aspect of the typology was being
demonstrated the following example illustrates how
this type of inconsistency occurred
female white divorced late twentiesoh the scriptures are very important becausebefore I1 probably would have read something fromthe bible and wouldnt have understood it and I1wouldnt have done anything to understand itwhereas now if I1 read my scriptures and theressomething that I1 dont understand I1 try andunderstand it I1 sort of pray and ask you knowhelp to understand it so ive noticed thatchange and just praying its quite importantbecause its it does bring you closer becausejust being able to talk communicate with yourheavenly father its nice
both raters saw this series of statements as an
example of biographical reconstruction in addition to
this however one of the raters also saw it as
suspension of analogical reasoning because of the mormon
terminology for god that of heavenly father the raterreasoned that since the respondent was using mormon
terminology which is different from other religions itcould be an example of suspension of analogicalreasoning As we discussed this type or error we noted
that it was important to take the quote within thecontext of what was being said in addition to picking
out key words or phrases that could possibly illustratea dimension of the typology
54
godthat
temporal issuesthe third area of disagreement was a temporal issue
regarding when the phenomenon took place this type of
disagreement occurred when there was confusion not as
to whether a certain characteristic of the typology was
being demonstrated but rather when the event occurred
either prior to or after joining the church thefollowing example illustrates this point
male white divorced ill put it adifferent way now I1 was in the royal navy andthere was many a time I1 was in a really tightspot live or die now whether you believe it ornot when youre in a position like that youalways say a prayer its the only thing youvegot left to fall back on and you do it I1 dontcare what the strong is banging the world butwhen you get into that position you say a littleprayer to yourself when you get the chance nowthat is like blind faith but you almost alwaysfall back on it I1 do pray for certain things I1mean I1 dont get them but after ive said them I1feel better because ive spoken to somebody
one of the raters viewed this example as master
attribution because the respondent talked about asking
for help from a greater power than himself theassumption being that the greater power that is god
was able to take control of a situation and influence
its outcome the other rater however did not use itas master attribution although she agreed with thereasoning because the respondent was discussingsomething that happened long before his joiningmormonism
55
overlooking an example
the fourth and final area of disagreement occurred
when one of the raters overlooked an example of one of
the characteristics of the typology the raters found
this problem primarily due to differences in theirbackgrounds when this type of error occurred it was
usually a case of one of the raters being unable todistinguish an example of a characteristic because of
her own particular world view for example one of the
raters missed certain demonstrations of the typology
because the respondents were talking about things so
common to her that it was difficult for her to see them
as uncommon to others or as a means to set converts
apart from convertsnonconvertsnon the following example is one
illustration of this problem
female white divorced mid thirties I1think you have to study the scriptures pray I1think keep an open mind I1 think going to churchhelps a lot and talking to other people hashelped I1 think you also do it by helping otherpeople I1 think you get a lot of happiness backand the feeling of satisfaction from helping otherpeople and this sort of thingone rater saw this response as a demonstration of
embracement of the master role because the individualexpressed her perception of what she needed to do toplease god and thereby win the right to be with him
the other rater however failed to see this linkbecause her own world view dictates that need so
strongly she felt what the respondent was saying was
56
not sufficient to demonstrate embracement of the master
role
effectiveness in applying thetypology of mormons
drawing from the process completed to this point we
developed a set of instructions to be used by otherswhen applying the typology to mormonscormonsMor thismons included
our evaluations of how mormons indicated the four
dimensions of the typology examples of theseindications and cautions to be considered when applying
the typology to mormon converts these instructions can
be foundoundaund in appendix 3 As a final check as to how
effective these instruction were a third rater was
employed to read and evaluate the interviews according
to the typology in addition to receiving the same
training as the second rater she was given the set of
instructions as to how to apply the typology to mormonscormonsMor
we
mons
hoped that the previous efforts would improve our
interraterinterpraterinter reliabilityrater scores we will now discuss how
effective we were in facilitating this improvement
table 8 indicates the types of disagreement and thepercentage of how often they occurred between theconsensus effort of the original research team and thethird rater
57
f
table 8
differences in agreement of the typologyand frequency of occurrence between
the consensus of the researchteam and rater 3
tynetypetyre of disagreement totaldifficulty in applying 8scheme to mormons
different perception 11of typology
temporal issue 2
overlooked 17examples
total 38
of total types
21
29
5
45
100
the table indicates that the percentage differencesoccurring due to overlooking an example rose from 32 to45 per cent it is possible that this is an indicationthat the third rater was careless in her assessment
however upon considering that differences due to theperception of the typology only decreased from 32 to 29
per cent we hesitate to make this assertion ratherit seems more appropriate to question the reliability of
the typology
table 9 indicates the zeroorderzero correlationordercoefficients between the raters assessments of therespondentsrespondents1 indications of the dimensions theconsensus score with rater 3 represents the finalassessment arrived at by the research team and rater
58
A ty
1
threes assessment of the respondents demonstrations of
the dimensions of the typology
table 9
zeroorderzero correlationorder coefficientsof assessments of typology
among pairs of raters
dimension
BR
MA
SAR
EMR
total
raters1 & 2
.6262
.4242
.4545
.4444044
.4848
raters1 & 3
.6262
.4747
.2626
.5858
.4848
raters2 &
.5959
.2828
.2222
.3737
.3636
33
consensus& rater 3
.5959
.5050
.3333
.5151
.4848
given that acceptable rates of interraterinterpraterinter agreementraterare usually set at .7070 charney 1986 guilford &
fruchter 1973 we are forced to question our overalleffectiveness in applying the typology to mormonism we
will now discuss some possible explanations as to why we
were unable to apply it effectivelypoor training
the first possible explanation for the low interraterinterpraterinteragreement
rateris that of poor training the second and
third raters were both trained by the author she may
not have given a sufficient amount of training for the
others to understand the typology in a way that they
59
62
42
45
44
48
62
47
26
58
48
59
28
22
37
36
59
50
33
51
48
70
could recognize examples of its dimensions among mormon
converts in a somewhat similar project charney trainedher raters by having them rate sample interviews and
then discuss together their results in much the same way
as was done in our consensus sessions charney 1986
she consistently maintained interraterinterpraterinter agreementrater above
.7070 had these practice sessions been used in thetraining process interraterinterpraterinter agreementrater may have been
increasedpoor raters
A second possible explanation for our failure toachieve high interraterinterpraterinter agreementrater is that the raterswere poor however we hesitate to make this assertionsince all were graduate students in the area of
sociology and have had some training in qualitativeresearch
culturalcultura problemsproblem
another possible explanation for poor interraterinterpraterinteragreement
rateris that of a cultural issue our sample
consisted of british converts but culturally one
chinese and two american raters were used the typologywas developed from converts to a buddhist movement butour assessment was of a christian movement thismixture of several cultures may have contributed to low
interraterinterpraterinter reliabilityrater
60
1
is
70
topoltvpolvalidity of the application of the typology
the finalinalfinaiinai explanation for low interraterinterpraterinter agreementraterscores deals with the issues of reliability and
validity first when considering that the types of
differences in agreement between the raters evaluationsincluded cases of overlooking examples of the typology
32 and 45 we question the reliability of the measure
in assessing conversion secondly we question theconstruct validity of the typology as it applies tomormonscormonsMor wemons found the application of the typology tomormonism to be very difficult and since the overall
interraterinterpraterinter agreementrater did not improve with theinstructions on its application to mormonism we
question how effective the typology actually is inassessing converts to mormonism
61
ap cationcatlon 0qy
f
ay
chapter 4
analysis and findings
in assessing our respondents according to thetypology our interraterinterpraterinter agreementrater was low however we
chose to go ahead with the analyses set forth at thebeginning of this thesis for the purposes of furtheranalysis the following criterion was used if two or
more of the raters coded the respondent as demonstrating
a particular dimension the respondent was coded as
having demonstrated that particular dimension allanalyses regarding the typology are based upon thiscriterion according to the hypotheses of this thesisif snow and machaleks conversion typology applied tomormonism then the presence of several dimensions of
the typology would be associated with both high
quantitative measures of conversion and high socialintegration measures
analysiswe will use lambdas and pearsons r in our analyses
lambdas will be used for analyses of nominal level dataand pearsons r will be used for analyses of nominal and
ordinal or nominal and interval level data by usingpearsons r we illustrated both measures of associationsand their levels of significance and avoided the biasof chi square with small cell values
62
in order to assure that significant associationsbetween the dimensions of the typology and the measures
of religiosity were not due to demographic differenceswe checked the following variables with the dimensions
of the typology gender age marital status age atwhich respondent left school and employment status no
significant differences were found between thesedemographic variables and the presence or absence of thedimensions of the typology therefore we assume thatany differences found relating to conversion measures
and the typology are due to conversion differences
rather than to demographic differences tested among our
respondentswe will first discuss the relationships between the
dimensions of the typology then we will review our
hypotheses and evaluate the results of the correlationsbetween the dimensions of the typology and our measures
of conversion finally we will discuss the socialintegration variables and how well they correlated with
the dimensions of the typology
relationships between the four dimensionsof the typology
first let us consider how each dimension correlatedwith the others table 10 indicates the effectivenessof each dimension in reducing the error of prediction
for the other dimensions the table shows that the
63
00oo
00oo
00oo
highest reduction in error between any two dimensions
was between embracement of the master role and
biographical reconstruction it is not surprising thatthese two dimensions correlated so well
table 10
reduction of errors lambdas in predictionof dimensions of the typology
predictor
SAR
MA
BR
EMR
ofrespondents
SAR
.1212
.0000
.0000
.0000
80
dependent
MA
am am
033
058
12
33
38
25
25
55
26
37
58
.3333
.3838
.2525
61
BR
.2525
.5555
57
EMR
.2626
.3737
.5858
46
with the embracement of a master role comes thenotion of exemplifying the religious movement sinceconverts see their lives as examples of the movement
they must present themselves favorably to otherspractically speaking this type of thinking would
necessitate a biographical reconstruction of their past
if a convert feels strongly enough about the movement
to attempt to be a positive reflection and thus aid
others in joining then the convert would also see his64
I1 I1
or her new life as happier and more purposeful while
viewing the past as troublesome misguided even
loathsome snow & machaiekmachalek 1983 p 267
the most difficult dimension of the typology to
predict was suspension of analogical reasoning knowing
the other dimensions did not help reduce the error when
predicting this dimension likewise this dimension had
the lowest ability to reduce the amount of error in
predicting the other dimensions in assessing thedimensions of the typology we found suspension of
analogical reasoning to be the most difficult to apply
to mormonscormonsMor additionallymons the lowest interraterinterpraterinteragreement
raterscores between all raters occurred with this
dimension the weakness of this dimension suggests thatit does not apply to mormonscormonsMor
measures
mons
of conversion
it was proposed that respondents demonstrating thepresence of several dimensions of the typology would
also score high on the three measures of conversion
personal religiosity participation in the organizationby having a calling and attendance at the weekly
worship service sacrament meeting table 11 shows the
correlation coefficients for each of the four dimensions
as they correlated with these measures of conversion
it also shows the correlation of all four dimensions
together to these conversion measures
65
poipol
table 11
zeroorderzero correlationorder coefficientsof dimensions of the conversion typology
and measures of conversion
personalreligcallingsacattend
ofrespondents
SAR
.3030
.3434
.2222
80
MA
.5656
.4444
.4141
61
BR
.5050
.2929
.5454
57
EMR
.5454
.5252
.3939
46
ALL
.6262
.5252
.5252
34
p0001p000l p001 p01 p05
three of the four dimensions of the typology
biographical reconstruction master attribution and
embracement of the master role were significantlyassociated with all measures of conversion each of
these dimensions was most strongly associated with a
unique conversion measure that is master attributionhad the highest correlation with personal religiosity
.5656 embracement of the master role with having a
calling .5252 and biographical reconstruction with
attendance at sacrament meeting .5454
considering the closeness of the correlationcoefficients we determined that these dimensions may
actually measure the same thing but in a different way
66
030
034
054
052
30
34
22
56
44
41
50
29
54
54
52
39
62
52
52
pooi
56
52
54
each variable was entered into a multiple regression
model using the stepwise method this procedure
indicated that all other dimensions dropped out of each
equation except for the dimension with the highest
correlation coefficient as previously mentioned while
we cannot confirm that the dimensions measure the same
variable the lambdas indicate as does logic that when
a convert demonstrates one dimension it is likely thathe or she will also demonstrate another the only
exception to this would be the indication of suspension
of analogical reasoning
the fourth dimension of the typology embracement of
the master role was most strongly associated with
having a calling to embrace the master role theindividual generalizes the convert role and considers ithis or her responsibility to share that newfound faithwith others this requires a deeper commitment thanmere attendance at weekly services the convertslifestyle must exemplify the movements good tononmembersmembersnon it is not surprising then that having a
calling correlates more strongly with embracement of themaster role the former requires commitment within the
organization and the latter requires commitment without
the organization however having a calling benefitsthe convert with additional opportunities forinteraction within the organization this increased
67
interaction helps the convert develop this deeper
commitment by learning the convert role from members
considering the typology this dimension may bestindicate conversion when the convert embraces a master
role he or she has indeed been converted while
embracement may be the best indicator it was also
demonstrated the least this suggests that it is more
difficult for converts to obtain and may signify a
weeding out process of new members who fail to convert
although the third dimension of the typology
suspension of analogical reasoning was found most
frequently it had the weakest associations with theconversion measures there are two possible reasons forthese weaker associations one this dimension does not
require a high degree of religiosity to be demonstrated
and two the dimension itself is problematic
because mormonism is very different from theconverts previous religious experiences it is not
surprising they recognized this immediately adding themormon practice of testimony bearing to this fundamental
difference between mormonism and the church of england
new converts may first learn the notion of the truechurch lt
the second explanation for the low associations isthe problematic nature of this dimension suspension of
analogical reasoning was conceptually difficult from the
68
beginning and very awkward to apply to mormonism given
the low interraterinterpraterinter agreementrater scores the second
explanation is most probable
when considered together all dimensions of the
typology were significantly associated with theconversion measures therefore our hypothesis thatthere would be a high association between the conversion
measures and the presence or absence of the four
dimensions was supported though tenuously
social integration measures
A high association between the dimensions of thetypology and social integration measures was
hypothesized several measures were used having an
active LDS spouse the number of active LDS family
members excluding spouse the number of active LDS
friends in the ward and feeling comfortable in theward previous research shows that relationships with
actively participating members strongly influencesreligious belief and commitment cornwall 1985 lenski1963
table 12 shows the zeroorderzero correlationordercoefficients for these variables with the dimensions of
the typology the results were somewhat surprising
69
19ig 06og
table 12
zeroorderzero correlationorder coefficientsof dimensions of the conversion typology
and measures of social integration
LDSspouse
SAR
.3030
MA
.2626
BR
.3131
EMR
.4343
ALL
.4242
family
friend .1414members
17
09
.1919
.2121
dimension
30 26 31 43 42
25
14 21 05
03
12
14 45 50 54
pooi poi
.2525members
.0606
am .0505
.0303
.1212
wardfit .1414 53 .4545 .5050 .5454
p001 pol p05
the low associations between the dimensions and thenumber of active LDS family members and friends did not
support the hypotheses however the results supported
the hypotheses of a high association of having an activeLDS spouse and feeling comfortable in the ward with thedimensions of the typology
having an active LDS spouse significantly correlatedwith all dimensions of the typology evidencing theimportance of a supportive spouse during the conversion
process it should be noted how much stronger thiscorrelation is with embracement of the master role than
it is with the other dimensions earlier we discussed
the possibility that this dimension of the typology isthe best indicator of conversion snow and machaiekmachalek
70
argue that with embracement the convert role becomes of
primary importance perhaps to develop this level of
commitment the convert needs the support of his or herspouse without it the convert cannot maintain theintensity of commitment necessary to form a new world
view which occurs with the embracement of a master
rolethe hypotheses that having active LDS friends and
family members excluding spouse would correlate with the
dimensions of the typology were not supported before
dismissing this theory we offer several cautions
first of our 41 respondents only 2 had other activeLDS family members therefore we cannot expect to findany relationship virtually no variance occurred on
this variable secondly only 13 respondents had activeLDS friends while we expected more variance here thisconstitutes only 32 per cent of the sample given thissmall percentage the amount of variance may have been
insufficient to ascertain a significant associationbetween the variables however the correlations did
show a positive association indicating that a largersample may demonstrate significance lastly thepresent study is a secondary analysis the originalresearch design did not call for indepthin responsesdepth
concerning these relationships we asked about them but
did not probe deeply regarding their intensity
71
therefore a simple dichotomous yesnobesno variabledescribed them we acknowledge this problem however
we did not want to ignore these social integrationvariables and used them in the best way possible
finally the wardfit variable significantlycorrelated with three of the dimensions biographical
reconstruction master attribution and embracement of
the master role these correlations were quite high
most of the converts joined either alone or with a
spouse they did not have other familyamily members or
friends who were church members this lack of socialties to the church increases the importance of wardfitin determining a converts continued association with
the organization later we will discuss the theoreticalreasoning pertaining to the importance of socialinteraction in the conversion process
usefulness of the typology in theassessment of conversion
in the firstirstarst chapter of this thesis severalquestions were outlined to guide our research does thetypology apply to mormonscormonsMor andmons if so do all dimensions
apply equally what undergoes change in the conversionprocess how much change is necessary to determine thatconversion has taken place
72
j oinedcoined
f
f
aliiamlialilcationcatlon
does the typolocry andlyapplyaddly to mormonscormonsMor
the
mons
most difficult task was determining thetypologys applicability to mormon converts the
tediousness of this process and the low interraterinterpraterinterreliability
raterscores indicate that it was very difficult
to make this applicationone important issue regarding this difficulty is the
involvement of several cultures one chinese and 2
american raters assessed the british converts inaddition snow and machaiekmachalek derived their typology from
american converts to a buddhist movement while our
applicationamlication focused on british converts to a christianmovement our analysis confirms that the typology
better applies to nonchristianchristiannon groups and possibly only
to americans
another problem in applying the typology to mormons
was determining which dimension was being demonstrated
also more than one dimension often could be applied toa particular quote methodologically this createddifficulty keeping the categories mutually exclusive as
is necessary in content analysis singleton etal1988 however since it was an exploratory study we
counted every dimension a quote demonstrated thisoverlap also indicates that the dimensions actuallydemonstrate the same quality but at different levels of
intensity
73
thetypolocm
et al
dopo the dimensions apioleapplyapiolv equally
the findings suggest that suspension of analogicalreasoning was the most problematic dimension from thebeginning of our analysis this aspect was difficult to
define in terms of mormonism although eighty per cent
of the respondents demonstrated this dimension itscorrelations were the weakest given the problem of
application and the low correlations the usefulness of
this dimension was minimal
other dimensions were more useful in understanding
both convert attitudes toward the church and personal
growth resulting from conversion however since it was
difficult to separate these dimensions which suggests
multicolinearitymulticollinearity it is best to use the most descriptivedimension
A hierarchical ordering of the typologys dimensions
was indicated suspension of analogical reasoning
master attribution biographical reconstruction and
finally embracement of the master role table 13
this hierarchical order is based on a decreasingpercentage of respondents demonstrating the dimensions
the data suggest the highest level of conversion isindicated by embracement of the master role
74
I1
biogrbiogyaphical
eglialivalig
table 13
conversion hierarchy of the dimensionsof the typology
embracement of the master roleconvert generalizes hisconvert role to all aspectsof his life
biographical reconstructionconvert begins to reconstruct hispast based upon the new world viewhe is learning
adoption of a master attribution schemeconvert realizes that god is incontrol and that he is responsible todo his will
suspension of analogical reasoningconvert realizes the difference betweenhis newfound religion and others he haspreviously experienced
what is it that undergoes changecha
the typologys effectiveness in assessing conversion
ultimately lies in its ability to measure the type of
change that indicates conversion therefore the basicissue of what undergoes change and how much change isnecessary is of utmost importance snow and machaiekmachalek
argue that conversion means a change in ones universe
of discourse snow and machaiekmachalek 1983 therefore their
75
typologys usefulness must be determined by how well itassesses this change
embracement of the master role best indicated thischange as well as the degree of change at this levelconverts generalized the conversion experience and
developed a new universe of discourse they were more
deeply committed to the organization and its principlesas evidenced by their desire to share their new
lifestyle with nonmembers and participate in theorganization through callingssuggestions for further researchesearchasearch
our recommendations for further research are three-fold the focus should be 1 what changes 2 theconsistency of change with the organizational culture or
world view 3 a focus on both identity change and
change in world view
A more effective focus for studying conversion iswhat changes upon conversion rather than using alldimensions of the typology as rhetorical indicators a
scheme should be developed that will demonstrate theprocess of change because embracement of the master
role conceptually defines the converts cognitive and
affective change the scheme should be developed around
this dimension
secondly the researcher must address the consistency
of change in the converts universe of discourse with
76
R
in universe
that of the organization snow and machaiekmachalek do not
mention this yet only this association confirms
conversion unless this consistency is addressed
future research will be invalidfinally we recommend that a dimensionaltwodimensionaltwo scheme
be developed in agreement with snow and machaiekmachalek itshould focus on the change in ones universe of
discourse it should also focus on the converts change
in self perception
in the next chapter we will present theoreticalreasoning on the importance of this dimensionaltwodimensionaltwo
focus
77
chapter 5
conclusions
our assessment of the snow machaiekmachalek conversion
typology indicated that a better emphasis for the study
of conversion is to focus on what changes and the amount
of change necessary for conversion we found that of
the dimensions of the typology the best indicator of
this change to be embracement of the master role because
it taps into a dimensionaltwodimensionaltwo change a change in
universe of discourse and personal identity in thisfinal chapter we will discuss our theoretical reasoning
on the importance of this dimensionaltwodimensionaltwo change and the
role of social integration in facilitating itsnow and machaiekmachalek argue that conversion is best
conceptualized as a change in ones universe of
discourse and that this change comes to inform allaspects of a persons life snow and machaiekmachalek 1983 p
79 converts develop a new world view consistent with
the organization with which they are now affiliatedthis world view acts as a canopy for converts how they
think about the world and the events that occur isexplained with reference to their newly developed world
view
snow and machaiekmachalek used the theoretical approach of
cognitive theory to develop the typology but they do
78
not offer any theoretical reasoning on how to develop a
new universe of discourse while we do not discount the
usefulness of cognitive theory we intend to go beyond
merely stating that conversion occurs and explore the
nature of change
in analyzing snow and machaleks typology as applied
to british mormon converts we concluded that thedimension embracement of the master role bestindicates conversion because it taps into the change in
the converts universe of discourse and illustrates thedegree of change we believe there is a theoreticalexplanation for this and present it to the reader as an
addition to cognitive theory
in defining embracement of the master role snow and
machaiekmachalek assert that with this dimension the convert
role becomes of central importance it ultimatelypervades the converts life As snow and machaiekmachalek
describe it metaphorically it is not merely a mask
that is taken off or put on according to the situationrather it is central to nearly all situations for the
convert such role identities as father mother
brother sister student and so on pale in comparison
to the role identity of the convert snow and machaiekmachalek
1983 p 278
this embracement of the master role is in actualitythe development of a new world view and a new identity
79
it best predicts conversion because at this level theconverts world view and view of him or herself are more
congruent with the new religion than at other stages in
the conversion process therefore a convertscognitive and behavioral patterns are more congruent
with those espoused by the group As snow and machaiekmachalek
suggest the convert role governs their orientation in
all situations snow & machaiekmachalek 1983 p 277 and as
indicated by our analysis it is the change thatconversion induces that is paramount in the study of
conversionour theoretical orientation of how this change takes
place originates from the sociological theory ofsymbolic interactionism A major premise of this theory
is that behavior depends upon a named or classifiedworld the names or class terms attached toenvironmental features both physical and social carrymeaning in the form of shared behavioral expectations
that grow out of social interaction through
interaction with others individuals learn how toclassify the objects they encounter and the behavioralexpectations associated with these objects stryker1980 the theory is twofoldtwo firstfold each individualmust learn the meaning of his or her world as well as
the accompanying expectations of behavior second thisknowledge can only be acquired through interaction with
80
conversion
other individuals who already have the meaning systems
in place applying this to conversion the convert must
learn what it means to be a member of the new religiousgroup and the accompanying behavioral expectations
this is accomplished through social interactiongrowing out of the global theory of symbolic
interactionism comes identity theory this theory
adopted and modified from erik eriksons concept of ego
identity has become more important and accepted in
sociological circles in recent years especially among
symbolic interactionists weigert teitge and teitge1986 we submit this as our theoretical reasoning why
embracement of the master role proved to be the bestindicator of conversion
As stryker explained it ones self is the way one
describes to himself his relationships to others in a
social process stryker 1980 p 59 the concept of
self however is not limited to only one descriptioneach relationship in which the individual is involvedmay designate a different definition of self A woman
may for example describe herself as all of thefollowing professional wife mother runner convert
the importance one gives to each role is dictated by thepriority it has in the individuals life and thisdiffers for each of us for example one may choose toplace more importance on the role of professional than
81
on that of wife or mother her behavior will be such
that the tasks relating to her professional career willtake precedence over those of being a wife or mother
another woman may choose the opposite priority her
behavior will also reflect that choice
this concept of the self complex and differentiatedyet also organized has led theorists to the notions of
identity and identity salience identity is developed
from the many selves defined by the individualhowever these selves must be organized in a manner thatdoes not overwhelm the individuals ability to cope with
each identity role this is done through a hierarchicalordering which creates a salience hierarchy of identitythe higher the identity in the hierarchy the more
likely it is to be invoked in any given situation or
many situations the probability of invocation is what
defines identity salience stryker 1980
snow and machaiekmachalek assert that when converts embrace
the master role the convert role is of utmost
importance identity theory explains this pervasiveness
by the notion of salience since other identities pale
in comparison to the convert role it has clearlybecome the highest in the salience hierarchy more than
with any other role converts identify themselves as
members of the new religious organization likewise
this identity greatly influences how they think feel
82
and behave their identity and their world view arenow congruent with the world view of others who are also
affiliated with the religious group
however we need to ask ourselves two questions
first how does the convert role come to reign supreme
in the salience hierarchy and secondly how can an
individual not only add to his or identity a dimension
that has never before existed but also give it thegreatest amount of salience we do not suggest thatthis change occurs overnight this salience hierarchy
is very similar to the conversion hierarchy referred to
earlier As the individual moves up the conversion
hierarchy toward the development of a new world view he
or she also moves up the identity salience hierarchy
the stronger an individuals commitment to the religiousgroup the stronger his or her identity will be to itAs the individual continues to identify to self and
others as a convert his or her commitment to thereligious group will also grow progression up one
hierarchy influences progression up the othertherefore conversion can actually be seen as a two
dimensional process that not only brings about a change
in ones world view as snow and machaiekmachalek suggest but
also a change in the converts own identity trueconversion requires a change in both these dimensions
83
hereafter this dimensionaltwodimensionaltwo change will be referredto as a change in ones global perspective
the progression along these two hierarchies isdependent upon the converts association with other
church members and the socialization process that occurs
as a result of this association joining a new
religious organization includes an opportunity todevelop new relationshipsrelationship based upon the common
denominator of their religious affiliationiliationbiliation if theconvert enjoys the initial perhaps even formal brushes
with other church members he or she will likely want to
continue these associations and develop deeperrelationships with other members if the development of
these deeper relationships depends upon accepting theconvert role and if the desire to do so is strong
enough the individual will be committed to that rolebecause the relationships are important to him or her
if for example the maintenance of ties to a set of
others is important to the person and dependent upon
beingsayabeing membersay ofa a sorority that person iscommitted to being a member of a sorority stryker1980 p 62 similarly if the maintenance of ties to
other church members is important to the individual and
are dependent upon being a convert the individual willbe committed to being a convert
84
s
affilialilaliiation
socialization is the rather generic term used to
describe the process by which any newcomer be thatinfant junior executive or convert comes tounderstand his or her role in the organization through
socialization converts learn to define their role and
ultimately develop a global perspective that isconsistent with that of the other individuals in theorganization As they are socialized they develop an
ability to share the values and norms of the group
they also conform their thoughts feelings and
behaviors to those of other group members it is only
through interaction with other individuals that converts
are able to adopt the groups global perspective
the process of socialization and the relationships
built through interaction influence one another As
converts interact more and develop relationships with
group members they allow themselves to become more
socialized at the same time as they become more likeother group members they are likely to experience more
interaction with other members for two reasons firstgroup members will be more willing to accept the convert
if they perceive him or her to be like them second ifthe convert feels comfortable with the group he or she
will be more likely to view him or herself as part of
the group and will therefore find it easier to adopt
the groups global perspective the interactions one
85
newcomerbe
p
bembmemb
has with other group members and the process of
socialization both influence the development of theconverts new global perspective A conceptual model of
this process appears in figure 1
figure 1
the influence of social interactionand the process of socialization on thedevelopment of a new global perspective
interaction withother group members
development of anew global perspective
process ofsocialization
relating this explanation to mormon converts theimportance of two social integration variables will be
discussed the importance of having an active LDS
spouse and the importance of feeling comfortable with
other church members
our analysis confirmed the importance of spousal
support in developing a new global perspective without
the endorsement of the individuals most significantother it is unlikely that he or she will proceed to a
86
level of conversion conducive to the development of a
new global perspective acquiring a new global
perspective requires the development of new
relationships but it also often means that past
relationships must be broken stryker 1980 without
spousal support as these old ties are broken theprocess is very painful and difficult and is much lesslikely to occur
the wardfit variable also showed significantcorrelations with the dimensions of the typology
through interaction with other ward members and the
resultant socialization process converts learned the
religious orientation of mormonism as well as theirpersonal identity in relation to it associations with
other ward members are especially important for britishconverts because they usually join the church without
other integration mechanisms those who did not feelcomfortable with other church members discontinued theirassociations with them were not properly socializedand consequently did not develop a new globalperspective in short they did not become converts
those who did feel comfortable remained involved with
other church members and ultimately developed the new
global perspective
the change in ones global perspective finallydetermines that conversion has occurred snow and
87
is
0
machaleks typology proposes an empirical indicator of
the conversion process we found the typology somewhat
useful in assessing converts however those using thetypology in evaluating conversion are cautioned toremember what they are actually assessing the typology
can be used as an indicator of conversion but in the
final analysis the presence or absence of empirical
indicators is not the researchers definitive question
rather how converts develop a new globalperspective how this perspective is maintained and how
it influences their thoughts feelings and actions are
of primary importance whether our theoreticalorientation focuses on cognitive theory and snow and
machaleks use of the term universe of discourse thesociology of knowledge perspective and its concept of
the world view or identity theory and identitysalience we arrive at a point of convergence inexplaining how converts universe of discourse world
view or identity changes
in each case the change is explained through
relationships and interactions with other individualsout of these interactions with other church members
converts learn to interpret the world around them and
their self as they develop a new global perspective
figure 2
88
is
machaiekmachalek conversion typology embracement of the master
roleroie is the best indicator of conversion this
figure 2
the convergence of conversion theoriesand the development of a global perspective
in summary we conclude that when using the snow
dimension helps us understand the converts change in
89
sociology ofknowledge
cognitive world viewtheory
universe ofdiscourse
converts interprettheir self andthe world aroundthemthen through socialinteraction
global perspective
identitytheory
identitysalience
world view and identity therefore a better researchemphasis is to develop a scheme around this dimension
that better explains the process of change occurring
with conversionconvers
trueioneionOlone
conversion involves the development of a new
global perspective this occurs through continued
interaction and through the process of socialization as
converts learn a new way to look at the world and
themselves without the development of social ties to
the religious group conversion is much more difficultand much less likely therefore in studying theprocess of conversion the continued focus on
relationships with other group members is of criticalimportance
90
4
in
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1978 methods of social research new york thefree press
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bankston W B forsyth CJ floyd HH1981 toward a general model of radical conversion
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eileen1984 the making of a moonie new york oxford
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berger peter L1967 the sacred canopy elements of a sociological
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bauer RA1957 brainwashing psychology or demonology
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david G and anson D shupe jr1979 just a few years seems like a lifetime A
role theory approach to participation inreligious movements in research in socialmovements conflict and change edL kriesberg 15985159 greenwich85 conn JAI
charney linda A1986 religious conversion A longitudinal study
unpublished dissertation department ofeducational psychology university of utah
clarkdarkmark elmer T1929 the psychology of religious awakening new
york macmillan
clark william H
1958 the psychology of religion new yorkmacmillan
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cornwall marie1987 the social bases of religion A study of
factors influencing religious belief andcommitment review of religious research2944562944
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personal communities the social andnormative bases of religion unpublisheddissertation department of sociologyuniversity of minnesota
downton james1980 an evolutionary theory of spiritual
conversion of young americans to divine lightmission journal for the scientific study ofreligion 193819619381
durkheimwurkheimDur
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emilekheim1915 the elementary forms of religious life new
york the free press
gaede stanley D
1976 A causal model of belieforthodoxybelief proposalorthodoxyand empirical test sociologicalanalysis 372051737205
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VB1979 religious conversion and personal identity
how and why people change birmingham alareligious education
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strategy underlying qualitative research inW rilsteadbilsteadRil edstead qualitative methodology
pp 288297288 chicago297 rand mcnally
guilford JP & B fruchter1973 fundamental statistics in psychology and
education new york mcgraw hillheirich max
1977 change of heart A test of some widely heldtheories about religious conversionamerican journal of sociology 83653808365380983653 809
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1961 coercive persuasion A socio psychologicalanalysis of the brainwashing of americancivilian prisoners by the chinese communistsnew york norton
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95
28
ap
appendix 1
96
individual QUESTIONS
this section is designed to get background informationfrom the respondent and to help them feel morecomfortable with the interviewer
id first like to find out a little about where you arefrom and some of the things that happened while you weregrowing up
where were you born and raisedwhat do you remember most about your parents
could you tell me a little about your brothers andsisters
if a convert
how old were you when you were baptizedhow did you first learn about the church
what led you to decide to be baptized
the following question are designed to bet a sense ofthe beliefs and values of the respondents
what is most important to you or what do you valuemost in life Is there anything more
what is it that you want most out of lifehow important is religion in your lifewhat do you believe about god or the after lifehave you ever experienced a religious experiencevision dreams feelings
does religion help you in life in what ways whydoesnt it seem to help you
do you consider yourself a spiritual person why
97
have you ever felt something was missing or notquite right in your religious or spiritual life
the following questions are designed to discover howmembers feel about the church
how do you feel about the mormon church
do you feel it is the true church on earth
how important is the church to you at this time
what are the most important things to you aboutbeing a mormon
do you attend church
if no why dont you attendhave you ever thought of becoming more
activewhat problems do you see in becoming more
activewhat would be the biggest changes you would
have to make in order to become more activewhat do you think would help you return to
activity in the church
if someone were trying to help people becomeactive in the church again what do you thinkwould be the most important thing to do
have there been people who have encouraged youto be more active in the church
who were they
what did they do
do you ever feel pressured
98
what are the advantages of being active in thechurch
what problems do you see in going to church
what are the disadvantages of being active in thechurch
the following questions are designed to capture a senseof significant events and relationships which may havecontributed to the way the respondents life has turnedout so far
what one event has been most important to you
Is there another event that was important toyou
arebarelare there any otherswhat people have been most important to you
probe for all people
why were they so important
have you had any times of real joy or happiness
was the way you looked at life changed duringthese happy times
have you had any difficult times in your lifewas the way you looked at life changed during
these difficult times
have you had experiences that have disturbedshaken challenged changed called into question
your basic beliefswas the way you looked at life changed as a
result of these experiences
99
for
these questions are designed to understand socialnetworks and contacts with other church members
what contact have you had with the church or withchurch members lately
do you have home and visiting teachershasgwhasgehas the bishop visited your home
have other people from the ward come by
have you been to any church activities orhave you attended church serviceshow many of your friends are members of thechurch
are any of them activehow well do you feel you fit in with otherpeople in your ward
would you feel comfortable in talking to yourbishop or other church leaders
100
appendix 2
101
I1 I1
BRITISH ACTIVITY STUDY
tape ID
stake
person A B C D E F status
ward
sex 1 female
2 male
year born
age at baptism
priesthood
1 unordained2 deacon3 teacher4 priest5 elder6 seventy7 high priest8 not LDS do not
know
if married husbands priesthood
unordaineddeaconteacherpriestelderseventyhigh priestnot LDS do notknow
are you a convert to the church
1 no2 yes if yes what religion were you before
joining1 church of england2 catholic3 protestant4 other please specify5 none
before joining the LDS church how frequentlydid you attend religious services
weeklytwo or three times a monthonce a monthless than once a month
5 never or very seldom
102
12345678
1234
how many of your friends were active latterday saints before you were baptized
1 all of them2 most of them3 about half of them4 A few of them5 none of them
when you were 16 what was your parents religiouspreference
church do parentof please not not
LDS england other specify none know present
father 1 5 9
mother 1 4 5 9
when you were 16 how often did your parents attendreligious services
A few A few parenttimes times not
never a year monthly a month weekly present
father 5 9
mother 9
how religious a person would you say you are1 not at all religious2 A little bit religious3 quite religious4 very religious
103
2
2
3
3
4
1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4 5
in the past three months how often have you attendedeach of the following LDS church meetings
less than A fewonce a times
never month monthly a month weekly
sacramentservicesunday school
relief societypriesthood
5
do you have a church assignment that prevents you fromweekly attendance at sunday school relief society orpriesthood meeting
1 no if no would you be willing to serve in achurch calling of some kind 1 no
2 yes
yes if yes please list the church callingsin which you are currently serving andthe number of months you have served
how much time do you usually spend each week carryingout the duties of your calling do not count timespent in meetings or activities you would attend even ifyou did not have this calling
hours per week
104
1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
2
we are interested in periods of your life when yourreligious beliefs and church activity may have beendifferent than they are now
since you were baptized in the LDS church have thereever been periods of one year or longer when the LDSchurch was not an important dartpart of your life
1 no2 yes a if yes how old were you when this
period began
years old
b Is the LDS church important to youat this time
1 no2 yes if yes how old were you
when the church becameimportant to you again
years old
since you were baptized in the LDS church have thereever been periods of one year or longer when you did notattend LDS services regularly
1 no2 yes a if yes how old were you when this
period began
years old
b do you attend LDS services at thistime
1 no2 yes if yes how old were you
when you began attendingagain
105
art
1
age you stopped attending school age
do you have any higher education or technical training
1 post graduate degree2 first degree3 technical HNC or OND4 A levels5 0 levels6 other please specify
what is your current employment status employmentincludes parttimepart worktime for pay such as deliveringpapers or babysitting as work without pay in a familybusiness or farm
1 currently employed2 not employed looking for employment3 not employed not looking for employment
if employed
what is your occupation if unemployed pleasedescribe your most recent job if you work at morethan one job please describe the one at which youwork the most hours
how many hours per week do you usually work totalat all jobs
hours
106
current marital status1 first marriage2 remarriage after divorce spouse3 remarriage after death of spouse4 divorced5 separated6 widowed7 never married
if currentlvcurrently married
what type of marriage ceremony did you have
1 civil registry office2 church ceremony3 civil or church marriage followed by temple
sealing after at least one year4 church ceremony followed immediately by temple
sealing5 temple ceremony only members married outside
british isles
how long have you been married to your presentspouse
years
does your spouse belong to the mormon church
1 no2 yes
age spouse stopped attending school age
does your spouse have any higher education or technicaltraining
1 post graduate degree2 first degree3 technical HNC or OND4 A levels5 0 levels6 other please specify
107
reg istryastry off ice
h
current lv
I1
what is the current employment status of your spousecount parttimepart worktime including work at home such as
babysitting also count work without pay in a familybusiness or farm as employment
1 currently employed2 not employed looking for employment3 not employed not looking for employment
if spouse is employed
what is hisheraisher occupation if unemployed pleasedescribe hisheraisher most recent job if heshebeshe worksat more than one job please describe the one atwhich heshebeshe works the most hours
how many hours per week does your spouse usuallywork total at all jobs
hours
in the past three months how often has your spouseattended each of the following LDS church meetings
less than A fewonce a times
never month monthly a month weekly
sacrament 1 2 3 4 5servicesunday school 1 2 3 4 5
relief society 1 2 3 4 5priesthood
does your spouse have a church assignment that preventshimherhigher from weekly attendance at sunday school reliefsociety or priesthood meeting
1 no2 yes
108
does your spouse have a church calling1 no2 yes
if yes please list the church callings in whichheshebeshe is currently serving and the number of
months heshebeshe has served
thank you very much for your help we appreciate yourefforts in our behalf
109
appendix 3
110
instructions for use of the snow machaiekmachalekconversion typology applied
to mormon converts
please read all information provided prior to beginningthe analysis
1 read snow and machaleks article the convert as asocial type which describes the typology
2 read the thesis chapter which describes how we foundthe typology to fit to mormonism
3 understand the main premises of the typology asoutlined by snow and machaiekmachalek and their comparativepremises mormonism to do this read and study thetables 1 through 4 which contain concise statements ofsnow and machaleks premises as well as theircomparative statements in mormonism
4 with the major premises in mind read the examplesof the demonstrations of the typology first read theexamples provided by snow and machaiekmachalek and then readthose provided from mormon converts understand howeach example fits the characteristic of the typology itis demonstrating to facilitate this understand we haveprovided an explanation of how the example demonstratethe typology
5 read the cautions provided to be aware of possibletrouble areas in the analysis6 having come to an understanding of what the typologymeans and how it applies to mormonism read theinterviews and assess whether or not each respondentdemonstrated the characteristics of the typology bytheir speech and reasoning use the tally sheetsprovided to record the assessment as well as the pagenumbers of the examples so as to be able to refer tothem with ease at a later date for each characteristicof the typology mark the yes column if an example isfound and the no column if one cannot be foundplease use a separate tally sheet for each respondentincluding for those interviews where there are tworespondents
illiiilii
50
table 3
definitions and indicationsof biographical reconstruction
among mormons
snow and machalekmachaiek
A dissolution of the pastand its subsequent reco-nstitution the past isnot only shattered thedisjointed pieces arereassembled in accordancewith the new universe ofdiscourse and its grammar
mormonism
A dissolution of the andits subsequent reco-nstitution the past isis not only shattered thethe disjointed pieces arereassembled in accordancewith the new universe ofdiscourse and its grammar
converts seldom seem totire of reminding othershow they have changed howtheir life has improvedhow they not only seethings more clearly nowbut also differently
converts express waysin which their life haschanged and improvedhow their attitudes aboutright and wrong havechanged and how they cansee things differently aswell as more clearly
old facts and aspectsof ones biography arethus given new meaningsnot only are formeridentities evaluatednegatively but the courseand character of theconverts life history istypically reconstructed astroublesome misdirectedeven loathsome
old facts and aspects ofof ones biography arethus given new meaningsnot only are formeridentities evaluatednegatively but the course
and character of theconverts life history istypically reconstructed astroublesome misdirectedeven loathsome
112
universe
stitution stitution
I1 avoided looking at this untilchanting brought out the wisdom that could help mesee such problems
female white single under 30approximately a year ago before conversion
examples of biographical reconstructionexamples provided by snow and machaiekchalekmachalek
male white single under 30 at the timeI1 joined I1 was involved in a hippietypehippiephilosophy
typeand consequently I1 felt that I1 had no
need for any material belongings in order toattain happiness it seems unbelievable nowbecause of my erroneous concept of a happy life I1was totally blind to my actual condition whichwas miserable
female white single under 30 chantinghas cleared up my mind enough to see that in theyears before I1 chanted I1 had many misconceptionsabout life
was going around screaming and protesting for whatI1 thought was the right cause little did I1 knowthat I1 wasnt making the right cause and that I1was creating so much antivalueant inivalue my life
female white single 16 beforediscovering NSA I1 almost flunked out of schoolall I1 ever thought about was the weekend the guyI1 was going out with and getting high with myfriends I1 was really a bum what I1 thoughtwas the real cool way to be was really very phony
113
ma
wh iteI1
I1
lrnedarned
examples of biographical reconstructionexamplesExam providedtolesioles by mormon converts
the first two examples show how the respondents
behaviors and attitudes concerning right and wrong and
how they should relate to others have changed
male white single early twenties my
life has changed 100 its totally turnedaround to how I1 was ive got things I1 stilltalk back to my mum ive got to control thatmy attitude everythings changed I1 used to beso what if you knock off a woman or if you stealsomething from a shop I1 knew it was wrong butmy attitude was like everybody elsesalses
female white single mid twenties I1seem to see them family in a different lightbecause before you say things you didnt carewhat you say or anything but im starting torealize that sometimes I1 was the type of personand sometimes still am that would just saythings who ran off and didnt really care who I1hurt or annoyed but then when I1 joined thechurch I1 realized that some of the things I1saying then when I1 joined the church I1 seemed tosee the people I1 watched I1 was able to talkbetter tell my mommy and daddy about religioneven because before I1 wouldnt have mentionednothing I1 would have kept it all to myself butim able to talk even with my mommy and daddyabout the church and even my brother
the third example shows how the respondent has come to
see herself differently and has a differentunderstanding as to why certain events have occurred
female white married thirties my
life changed completely it did a fullfuli turnabout everything changed it changed the way I1thought changed the way I1 looked at me as aperson I1 liked myself much much better I1hated myself before I1 joined the churchchurche I1 didntlike me at all because I1 thought I1 was making I1was making a mess of my life I1 wondered why mymarriage was wrong I1 wondered what id done
114
thingsi
j oinedcoined
wouldhave
makingi
I1oinedcoined
wrong to make it fail I1 couldnt understand whyI1 lost my dad who was one of my best friends I1couldnt understand why I1 couldnt have anychildren there were so many things questionsleft unanswered and when I1 joined the church I1gradually found answers to all the questions idbeen asking and it helped me and I1 felt goodabout it
the fourth example demonstrates how the convert has had
a change in his understanding of spiritual matters
male white single early twentiesalthough I1 thought I1 knew how to pray before I1
joined the church I1 didnt and its only nowthat im starting to feel that god is a personclose to me and a very good friend and that ismaking all the difference in my life my lifesince september has improved so many times that I1cant count them and its continuing to do so
the fifth example shows how the respondent has a
different understanding about life and what makes one
happy
male white single early twenties I1found that at one time I1 thought I1 used to be veryhappy and then after I1 joined the church I1 foundthat well I1 wasnt it was just content withlife I1 think the greatest happiness and joy thatI1 felt was again going back to me baptism becauseit took me about three weeks to come down to earthagain and live a normal life I1 was still up oncloud nine but generally speaking again sinceive joined the church ive been a lot happierand ive had a lot more joy in my life
the last example shows how a convert who has stopped
attending church feels that his ability to see and
understand has been hindered because he has stopped
attending church services he feels that if he were togo back his vision would become clear again
male white married late twenties if I1started going back to church again regular id
115
j oinedcoined
now have I1 would see clearly that I1 could lookclearly at the moment its just dust can youunderstand so youre saying the church givesyou vision yes thats right I1 can lookclearly and think clearly as well where at themoment its all mungledbungled up
116
it I1 s
table 4
definitions and indications ofadoption of a master attribution scheme
among mormons
snow and machalekmachaiek
A master attributionscheme is substituted fora series of multipleattribution schemes thatwere used previously
mormon ism
converts take a positionthat god is in controlevents occur for reasonsgod knows and he willhelp those who acknowledgehis power
A switch in causal locusprobably a frequentconcomitant of conversionin general
converts recognize theirresponsibility to alignthemselves with godswill
A shift in the perceivedlocus of causality is notunique to religious andpersonal growth movementsit is also frequently aconstituent element ofconversion to movementsthat seek change bydirectly altering socio-political structures
two opposing forces existin the universe andconverts have a respo-nsibility to placethemselves on the paththat god has made byresisting evil and doinghis will in order toreturn to him
117
mormonism
sibi lity
examples of adoption of a master attribution scheme
examples provided by snow and machaiekmachalek
koestler something clicked in my brainwhich shook me like a mental explosion
if you think a woman hasno fortune or a certain man has no fortune who dowe blame we look outside and say its societysfault or the woman says its mans fault russiasays it is americas fault and we say itsrussiasRus faultslagsiaa somebody at work told me about aTV program on the correctional system incalifornia the criminals say that theyve beenin jail too long and that this system doesntwork so they blame the system for their faultthe systems fault the countrys fault theenvironments fault the spouses fault actuallythe only one or thing at fault is ourself
male black single 25 my karma used tobe really bad it was apparent to most everyonebut me I1 bounced from one job to another and wasreally irresponsible only I1 didnt know it thenit was always somebody elses fault or a t leastI1 thought so it is only recently that I1 havecome to realize that I1 was having these problemsbecause of me there is no blaming others now
118
0 0 thewhole universe fell into pattern like the straypieces of a jigsaw puzzle assembled by magic atone stroke there was now an answer to everyquestion doubts and conflicts were a matter ofthe tortured past
male white 28
real ize
I1 I1 m
examples of adoption of a master attribution scheme
examples provided by mormon converts
the first three examples demonstrate how converts feelthat god is in control and that events occur for a
reason which he knows
female white married late forties andI1 was reading this book and it come to the bitabout baptism and there was one particularparagraph it was about baptism and there wassomething or someone stopping me from getting anyfurther I1 couldnt go above this passage and I1couldnt get below it I1 was just had to keepreading this particular I1 cant even tell youwhat it was now it was ironic it was justsomething that just someone was sort of likemaking me read this passage and I1 kept readingit and everytimeevery itime tried to get past it I1couldnt until in the end I1 accepted I1 saidalright I1 understand ill be baptized itwasnt that I1 minded it but once I1 seemed to say
that then I1 was allowed to carry on reading thebook
female white divorced late twenties I1just I1 feel that I1 belong and this is wellits what ive been searching for because I1 haveI1 did go to church not a lot I1 went regularlybut I1 never really knew why or what I1 was lookingfor I1 knew what I1 wanted to do but never thishas brought all of this to light I1 just feelbetter about myself you know that I1 know myselfand I1 know what im supposed to be doing andthings that I1 would like to do that I1 can doits nice to know where were going when we dodie when we leave here its nice to know thatwellvellveilveli meet up again sometime you know thatsvery nice
female white divorced mid thirties I1talked to god for quite a lot I1 pray but I1 alsohave a conversation and its given me a lot ofstrength and help if I1 go for an interview orsomething I1 sort of say give me a hand todayand this sort of thing you feel confident I1think because youve got somebody on your sideand this sort of thing
119
4 0 6
churchnot
nice
the fourth example shows the respondents understanding
of her personal responsibility to do gods willfemale white single mid thirties I1
think before I1 didnt believe that there was acelestial kingdom and that sort of thing I1 knowthere is I1 know if I1 can stay worthy to thechurch I1 can go there and hopefully be with myfamily where before I1 didnt even believe inthat but I1 used to think well if I1 go I1 gosort of thing so im sort of looking forward tothat it makes me be a better person and i thinkthats what keeps me close to the church now andthats where I1 want to be
the last example illustrates the respondentsunderstanding of two opposing forces in the world and
his responsibility to stay on gods side
male white single mid twentieseverybody opposes me joining the church butthats building my testimony its strengtheningit not weakening it so I1 know thats satanworking trying to get me to leave the churchits not going to work hes not going to defeatme its just strengthening my testimony italways is theres no doubts at all
120
I1
table 5
definitions and indications ofsuspension of analogical reasoning
among mormons
snow and machaiekmachalek mormon ism
converts typically suspend converts demonstratethe use of analogical difficulty in describingmetaphors when talking religious experiencesabout their beliefs and they frequently usepractices expressions like I1 cant
really describe it andit was like nothing I1
have ever experienced
analogical metaphors are converts set mormonismresisted because they from other religiousviolate the converts organizations with theposition that his or her notion that it is rightworld view is incomparable that it is different fromto other world views other churches that it is
the true church if
121
mormonism
examples of suspension of analogical reasoning
examples provided by snow and machaiekmachalek
response of NSA convert upon hearing someonesuggest that shakubukuShaku isbuku just likeikeilkeproselytizing shakubukuishakubukuShaku andbuku proselytizingarent the same shakubukuShaku isbuku to tell somebodyabout nam myohoryoho renge kyo it is a great act ofmercy and compassion whereas to proselytize is toput pressure on people and force them to come tomeetings the two arent the same
while talking with a middlelevelmiddle leaderlevelfollowing a chantingconversionchanting meetingconversion the topicturned to daisakedaisuke ikeda the movements formalpresident and inspirational leader or master asmembers refer to him having observed andexperienced the highly emotional response ikedaspresence elicits from members I1 indicated that hestruck me as being a charismatic individual inresponse the middlelevelmiddle leaderlevel with whom I1 wasspeaking bristled and emphatically stated thatikeda is not a charismatic individual president
kennedy and martin luther king were charismaticbut president ikeda is not he is anextraordinary man but he is not like other majorfigures and leaders you cant compare presidentikeda with them hes unique
122
S u g g e S t i s j u s t 1
mart in
1I couldnttell you how I1 felt when I1 went under that waterbaptism ill never be able to if I1 live to be
200 explain I1 felt that all the horrible thingsof the past this is the first time that ivespoken about them and im speaking about themwithout the shivers thats all been wiped out
female white divorced mid thirtieswhat was it about the church that you decided
that it was what you were looking for thatsdifficult I1 dont know I1 think its thecontinuing friendship and its something that I1cant explain I1 just ive just got this feelingthat this church is different to the otherchurches its something that I1 cant reallyexplain what it is really but you can feel thefriendship when you go into the church and youare part of it you feel that your children andyour family matter theres a sense of belongingreally
male white single mid twenties itsrealizing that jesus christ is my savior itshard to put it into words something that youreally cant explain its hard to explain tosomebody but something I1 know myself but I1cant express in words how im feeling its hardto explain
the last three examples demonstrate mormon converts
notion of the true church
male white divorced early twenties I1know why ive gone like I1 have because I1 know itstrue I1 know what im doing is right cause ivefound out about it and its not because I1 feltso bad and guilty that I1 should change my waysits because of whats happened to me and whatjesus christ had done for me I1 know what he done
123
examples of suspension of analogical reasoning
examples provided by mormon converts
the first three examples show the difficulty respondents
have in explaining their feelings concerning spiritualexperiences
female white divorced 60
pastthis
female white married mid thirties I1feel that its a good thing really because like I1said its changed my life a lot and theexperiences that ive had I1 think its prettygood and I1 know its true because ive prayedabout it and everything I1 felt like a burningfeeling within me
female white divorced mid fortieswhat are the important things in the church to
you I1 dont know really theres a lot itshard to put a finger on any in particular but I1know joseph smith was a true prophet how do youknow that because I1 do because I1 prayed aboutit I1 prayed about it before I1 got baptized andI1 also know that the church of jesus christ is thetrue church the only true church
124
churchthe
table 6
definitions and indications ofembracement of the master role
among mormons
snow and machaiekmachalek
generalization ratherthan compartmentalizationof the convert role andits embracement by theconvert
mormonism
converts generalize theirconversion in that theyunderstand that theirpurpose is to live goodlives in order to returnto gods presence
the convert role is arepresentative role inthat whatever they docollectively or indivi-dually whether in thecontext of family workschool or leisure it isto be done with theinterests of the movementin mind
converts are to be goodexamples to others servegod and others and domissionary work to helpothers experience theirsame happiness
converts enthusiasticallyannounce their identity inearly all situationsthey seldom let othersforget this role identityduring the course ofinteraction
converts relate sens-itivity towards being toovocal concerning theirconversion suggestingthey already have beensanctioned because of it
125
examples of embracement of the master roleexamples provided by snow and machaiekmachalek
explained by a major leader of NSA to alarge group of members the relationship of NSAto the other people in society with whom we worklive and meet every day is very important weshould keep in mind that how we live our dailylife is an exact image of the entire movement weshould become people of who others will say themembers of NSA are really great 11 to do that isto advance our cause therefore in every actionyou make and in every activity you participateyou can be carrying out the movements mission
NSA convert who aspired to be a nationallyrecognized tennis player before I1 started tochant I1 had no concrete purposed in playingtennis I1 used to think of all the troubles otherpeople had and tennis seemed like a joke but atthose last two tennis tournaments I1 felt like I1was playing for world peace
born again basketball player As I1 standat midcourtmid duringcourt halftime at the AIA gamesgiving my personal testimony to gods love myheart swells with the joy of being a christianmost people spend their lives investing forretirement I1 spend mine investing for eternity
126
halftime
wasngasn I1 t
examples of embracement of the master roleexamples provided from mormon converts
the first three examples show how converts come to
understand their responsibility to serve god and othersand share what they have gained with others
male white married early thirties myduty is to help others fall in the way tochrist the truth has got to be simple so plain
male white single early twenties I1just want to serve the lord in everythingeverything I1 do whatever he wants me to do illdo it withith my hand in yours wasnt it gowhere you want me to go
female white single 18 going out withthe missionaries I1 enjoy it I1 feel that imdoing something thats worthwhile and thatswhy its a worthwhile thing to do trying to getpeople into the church its if you succeed itsgood
the fourth example illustrates the respondentsunderstanding of her primary purpose as to live a good
life and strive to do what god wants
female white divorced mid thirties I1think you have to study the scriptures pray I1think keep an open mind I1 think you also do itby helping other people I1 think you get a lot ofhappiness back and the feeling of satisfactionfrom helping other people and this sort of thing
the last example demonstrates the respondents desire to
share her conversion with others but her hesitancy to do
so because of fears of being sanctioned by othersfemale white married mid thirties for
everyday you know it helps you on for all wejust lead an ordinary simple life we found thatit makes a big difference it makes you moretolerant towards other people and to my way when
127
W
I1 see people like outside that I1 know for a facttheyve got problems I1 would just love to be ableto go up to them and tell them what their lifecould be like if but its something like youcannot just go up to them and try to tell themthat they could make their lives better if theywanted to but you dont know which way peoplewould react because sharon and me joined thechurch and the rest of the family dont agreewith it
128
ifbut
cautions to be considered during evaluationof the interviews
the following precautions should be considered during
the process of assessing the interviews generally the
rater should beware of being too critical in his or her
assessment of new converts especially if the rater isa practicing member of the movement being evaluated itis possible to be too strict in the evaluation because
he or she has already been socialized by the group new
converts however are merely in the process of
socialization and are still learning what it means to be
a convert they will be less likely to espouse the
world view of the organization as completely as thosewho have grown up with it it is important to allow forthe inconsistencies that may be present during the
socialization process below are cautions to be
considered for each characteristic of the typology
graphicalbiographicalbigBip reconstructionreconstrecoastbe
ctionaction
careful to focus on cognitive changes that occur
not necessarily behavioral changes this would includea recognition that their life has changed it may alsotake an opposite form where they talk about how things
have gone wrong since they have returned to old habitsthey may express guilt for actions that previous to
conversion did not cause any guilt there is also a
recognition of how they have changed their attitudes129
0
toward others as well as towards god and theirrelationship to him they may express this as having
gone from a nonreligious individual to being very
religious most importantly it is a cognitive change
those who talk about behavioral changes without some
kind of cognitive change have not experiencedbiographical reconstruction remember respondents
should view their life differently
master attributionwhen evaluating respondents for master attribution
it is important to recognize indications of theinfluence of a higher power even when that is not
specifically stated respondents do not need tospecifically say that god is helping them they willallude to it as they talk about receiving help to do
things receiving blessings and being able to accomplish
things that they had previously been unable toaccomplish and as they discuss their problems as being
caused by satan when evaluating master attribution itis also important to note the respondents statements of
a desire to take responsibility for his own life thiswill be manifest in statements such as I1 like to sortthings out on my own 11 these types of statements
indicate the respondentsrespondent understanding that it is hisresponsibility to do what is right and not blame others
for his situations130
suspension of analogical reasoning
suspension of analogical reasoning will be manifest
in two ways converts will express an inability toexplain their feelings regarding certain spiritualexperiences and events that have occurred with theirconversion they will also express the notion of thetrue church they will talk about the church as being
different from any other they have experienced they
will talk about it being right to be baptized and
they will make statements such as I1 know the church istrue those who do not talk about the church as being
different from others or do not set it apart in some way
have not expressed suspension of analogical reasoningAs respondents talk about their relationships with othermembers of the church they may use analogies
particularly relating their feelings to the family and
feeling a warmth from other members we are not
focusing on these relationships but rather on theirspiritual experiences and how they view mormonism as
opposed to other religious organizations
embracement of the master roleroiewhen evaluating embracement of the master role it is
important to note desire to do good to serve god and
others and to help others this may be expressed as a
desire to serve a mission and formally share the church
with others or it may be a recognition of the converts131
ofthe mastek 0 eboodthe
ionlon
responsibility to be a good example and help others on a
daily basis note also that although the convert has
a desire to share his conversion with others he may be
reluctant to do so because of fear of rejection
132
convers
rtmentrement
the convert as a social typeA critical assessment of the snow machaiekmachalek
conversion typology as applied tobritish mormon converts
joy A obaniondepartment of sociology
MS degree august 1988
ABSTRACT
the study was designed to be a critical assessment ofthe snow machaiekmachalek conversion typology data werecollected from mormon converts in the british isles andan attempt was made to apply the typology to theseconverts it was assumed that if the typology could beeffectively applied to mormon converts strongcorrelations would be found between its dimensions andquantitative measures of conversion it was alsoassumed that social integration of converts would playan important part in the conversion process
the application of the typology proved to be verydifficult however some dimensions seemed to be moreuseful than others social integration was veryimportant for british converts to mormonism analternative theoretical emphasis to the study ofconversion is offered which stresses the importance ofsocial integration in the development of a new globalperspective
c
COMMITTEE APPROVAL C ilimarie
lcornwall
committee chair
v7 e Jevan T petersoncommittee member
IIAIXZiv e
james T dukedepartment chairman
snowmachalek
for
J n
JD
mach
va