|
Sudden Conversion
Not surprisingly, several studies have related emotional states to sudden conversions. For instance, in a classic study by Clark (discussed more fully in Research Box 8.1), 2,174 cases of adolescent conversions were classified as either sudden or gradual.66 Approximately one-third were sudden, either emotion- or crisis-precipitated, and linked with a stern theology. Starbuck studied adolescent conversions and found that two-thirds were at least partially triggered by a deep sense of sin or guilt.67 However, he found that in later adolescence, conversion was likely to be more gradual. Pratt went so far as to claim that prior to their conversions, the twice-born wallow in extreme feelings of unworthiness, self-doubt, and depreciation that are released or overcome via conversion, as in the Jame-Starbuck thesis.68 This position thesis recognizes conversion as a functional solution to the burdens of guilt and sin, which are found to be unbearable prior to conversion. In light of the Jame-Starbuck thesis, we must be careful not to interpret negative emotions such as guilt, sin, and shame as necessarily psychologically unhealthy.
Research Box 8.1. The Psychology of Religious Awakening (Clark, 1929)
In this classic study, E. T. Clark classified 2,174 conversions as to whether they were sudden or gradual. Sudden conversions (32.9%) were subdivided into two types: (1) "definite crisis awakening," in which a personal crisis is suddenly followed by a religious transformation (6.7%, majority males); and (2) "emotional stimulus awakening," in which gradual religious growth is interrupted by an emotional event that is suddenly followed by religious transformation (27.2%, equal proportions of males and females). Gradual conversions were described as "gradual awakening," a steady, progressive, slow growth resulting in gradual religious transformation (66.1%, slightly more females). A stern theology was associated with sudden conversions, equally distributed between crises and emotional awakenings; this was as would have been predicted from the James-Starbuck thesis. Most all gradual conversions were associated with compassionate theologies that emphasized love and forgiveness.
Clark suggested that sudden conversions were associated with fear and anxiety. In addition, 41% of these conversions occurred during revivals, which were likely to be highly emotional settings. The dominant emotional states reported were joyful reactions, assumed by Clark to result from the alleviation of the negative feelings existing prior to conversion, which were elicited by stern theologies emphasizing sin and guilt. This study suggests that negative emotional states can precipitate experiences within a religious setting, and that the conversion then provides positive relief of these negative feelings.
|
[...]
That sudden conversion is often correlated with emotionality seems well established. However, correlations do little to provide meaningful support for the causal claims that emotional feelings trigger conversions, or that guilt and sin are resolved by such conversions. Nevertheless, essentially correlational studies can be suggestive. A classic study by Coe compared 17 persons who anticipated striking conversions that actually occurred with 12 persons anticipating conversions that did not occur.72 Emotional factors were dominant in the first group; cognitive factors were dominant in the second group. In addition, the actual converts were more suggestible than the others. Although Coe's research suggests that emotional factors may be causally involved in sudden conversions, no true experimental studies or longitudinal studies documenting this claim exist. However, recent research in cognitive psychology suggests a reason to link emotionality and sudden, dramatic conversions. McCallister has noted that emotional situations such as dramatic conversions may restrict the encoding of knowledge about experience, leading dramatic converts to utilize narrative formats to reconstruct their experience.73
NOTES
66. Clark (1929).
67. Starbuck (1899).
68. Pratt (1920).
72. Coe (1916).
73. McCallister (1995).
REFERENCES
Clark, E. T. (1929). The psychology of religious awakening. New York: Macmillan.
Coe, G. A. (1916). The psychology of religion. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
McCallister, B. J. (1995). Cognitive psychology and religious experience. In R. W. Hood, Jr. (Ed.), Handbook of religious experience (pp. 312-352). Birmingham, AL: Religious Education Press.
Pratt, J. B. (1920). The religious consciousness: A psychological study. New York: Macmillan.
Starbuck, E. D. (1899). The psychology of religion. New York: Scribner.
Hood, R., Spilka, B., Hunsberger, B., Gorsuch, R. (1996, pp. 280-281). The psychology of religion: An empirical approach (second edition), New York: Guilford.
|