The DOI matches its Crossref record.
Conversion Experience, Belief System, and Personal and Ethical Attitudes
Abstract
Two studies assessed the relation between type of religious belief system (“ethical” vs. “born again” Christianity), type of conversion experience (sudden vs. gradual vs. unconscious), and four attitudinal dependent variables: the Purpose in Life Test, Social Interest Scale, Religious Orientation Scale, and Dogmatism. In Study 1, 84 college students served as subjects. In Study 2, 177 adults of varying ages served as subjects. The same basic pattern of results was obtained for the two studies. Born again Christians were significantly more intrinsically motivated in their religious beliefs and higher in social interest than ethical Christians. Sudden converts were significantly more intrinsic in religious orientation than unconscious converts. Professed Christians scored significantly higher on the Purpose in Life Test and Social Interest Scale than professed non-Christians. The findings suggest that it is useful to classify Christians according to type of belief and type of conversion experience. A deep religious commitment seemed to be accompanied by a sense of meaning in life, greater concern for the welfare of others, and a more dogmatic way of thinking.
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In the citing paper
“First, conversion is likely to be a complicated process [71].”
From Faith after an Earthquake: A Longitudinal Study of Religion and Perceived Health before and after the 2011 Christchurch New Zealand Earthquake (2012) · cites this paper as [71]
Citations
Cites
Still being checked.
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Cited by
Sibley, C. G., & Bulbulia, J. (2012) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0049648 · Cited by 194
“First, conversion is likely to be a complicated process [71].”
Background
Metadata
- Authors
- Paloutzian, R. F., Jackson, S. L., & Crandall, J. E.
- Affiliations
- University of Idaho (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Psychology and Theology
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 1978-09
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 266-275
- ISSN
- 0091-6471 (ISSN-L)
- 2328-1162
- OpenAlex
- W2791892546
- Cited by
- 50
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 2.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Psychology and Theology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Study and Philosophy of Religion
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Contemporary Christian Leadership and Education
- Keywords
- religious conversion, conversion experience, religious belief systems, born-again Christianity, religious orientation, intrinsic motivation, dogmatism, social interest, meaning of life, meaning in life, religious commitment, university students
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Cite CoChat for the checks on this page, and the paper for its own findings.
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- CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Conversion Experience, Belief System, and Personal and Ethical Attitudes. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1177/009164717800600403
- The paper
- Paloutzian, R. F., Jackson, S. L., & Crandall, J. E. (1978). Conversion Experience, Belief System, and Personal and Ethical Attitudes. Journal of Psychology and Theology. https://doi.org/10.1177/009164717800600403
Data sources
Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.
Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.
