The experience of religious conversion

The current study describes the experience of religious conversion across three dimensions: cognitive, affective, and social. In the cognitive dimension, religious conversion involves questioning of life and/or religion and the acceptance of new beliefs. In the affective dimension, the experience involves initial feelings of uncertainty, disquiet and emptiness, and then feelings of peace and fulfillment after the acceptance of the new religion and its beliefs. In the social dimension, it involves knowing about the new religion through its members participants also underwent changes in lifestyle and personality after their conversion. The results of the study follow a more social model of conversion wherein religion, through its members, played the active role in conversion experience of the participants. It was also concluded that conversion is an act of resolving dissonance, and that role learning and conjoint agency can explain the social changes involved in conversion