“I Was There for the Free Food”: Accidental Conversions in College

Abstract

How and why do some college students have conversion experiences, while others do not? To answer this question, we inductively analyzed in-depth interviews with 30 students at a residential college in the southeast who had varying conversion experiences: some never began a conversion (n = 16), some started toward conversion but ultimately did not convert (n = 4), and some completed a religious (n = 5) or nonreligious conversion (n = 5). We conceptualize conversion as socialization into new beliefs and practices, as evidenced by reorganizing daily behaviors. We extend conversion to experiences not generally understood as such. We find religious and nonreligious conversions follow the same process during college, facilitated by student organizations, demonstrating that religious conversions are not a unique transformation. Furthermore, we find that organizational context matters in conversion processes: the structural context of college allows some students, who share biographical ability, a desire to make new friends, and openness to new groups, to unintentionally join student organizations that seek to change their daily practices and worldviews. However, many students face constrained choices or structural barriers that prevent the conversion from being completed. Our research has important implications for conceptualizing conversion and for understanding the role of organizational context in conversions.

Individual‐Level Determinants of Religious Intergenerational Transmission: Evidence from Catholic Europe1

“…The basic insight of this perspective, which is strongly inspired by social learning theory, is that human behavior in general, including religious behavior, may best be understood as a learned process (Desmond et al. 2010; Petts 2014; Storm and Voas 2012; see also Gillis and Krull 2019). Thus, this perspective centers the role of parents as the principal socialization agents of children in fostering their religiosity (Storm and Voas 2012; Vaidyanathan 2011).…”

Motivations and Types of Religious Change in Contemporary America

“…While it is true that many social relationships are formed within congregations, in line with the homophily principle, the evidence suggests that friendship ties themselves influence religious choices (adams et al 2020; Cheadle and Schwadel 2012). Social connections (Gillis and Krull 2019; Ramos et al 2017) have been seen as the leading cause of religious switching.…”