Interdependent Religious Identities and Symbolic Threat: The Interpersonal Effects of Church-Leavers on the Still-Religious - Hannah James

Summary:

This project will study the levels of symbolic threat in evangelical Christians who have close relationships with those who have left their faith. I hypothesize that there will be a change in the level of symbolic threat that a Christian experiences when someone close to them leaves their faith because religious “selves” are built up in social and communal ways. While many studies have focused on the experiences of those who leave their faiths, there is not nearly as much published on the still-religious. Thus, this project fills a gap in the literature and will highlight the potential loss, doubt, fear—or simply, threat—that religious persons experience when they maintain relationships with those who have left. It may be that as a result of these experiences, Christians “double-down” such that they feel more certain about their religious identity after someone close to them departs from the faith. In either scenario, it is helpful for theologians and psychologists to know what is happening in the still-religious in order to understand the often-hostile relationship between the religious and the non-religious. In the U.S., where religion and politics often bring about polarizing attitudes, we must understand what is happening in order to recommend ways towards a more peaceful future. 

With regard to the fellowship theme: “the role of religion in social relationships in human flourishing” this project begins with a foundational theological belief that humans are made to be in communion with one another. Thus, when relationships experience—a sometimes sudden—break as a result of religious difference, it should come as no surprise that persons who maintain their religious identity experience a threat as they continue in relationship with the other whose identity has shifted. While such an experience is to be expected, this project has the opportunity to speak into this painful experience, offering ways forward for interreligious relationships to flourish. 

In order to carry out this study, I will interview 16 persons who have experienced a shift in a relationship dynamic. Half of the participants will be evangelical Christians who are in close relationships with those who have left their faiths. As a control group, I will also interview 8 evangelical Christians who are in close relationships with someone who has moved away geographically but remains religious. 

In terms of outputs, I will have 16 participant interviews worth of data; I will publish at least one article in a psychology and religion journal; I will present at the fellowship’s capstone conference next August and potentially one or two other conferences (such as EuARe, AAR, and/or IAPR). I will also host a science-engaged theology day conference alongside three other fellows at the University of St Andrews.  As for outcomes, this project will contribute to a growing field of literature on the landscape of Christianity in the U.S. This project will remain relevant not only at an academic level but also at a popular level, and I hope to publish a popular-level resource within the next 5 years on a psychologically-informed theology of leaving the church.