W poszukiwaniu szczęścia. Socjologiczna analiza konwersji religijnej

Grzegorz Zawadzki

doi:10.21697/ucs.2025.35.1.08

Published: 2025-06-30

Vol. 35 No. 1 (2025)

In search of happiness. A sociological analysis of religious conversion

Grzegorz Zawadzki

Academic Journal of Sociology

Section: Articles

https://doi.org/10.21697/ucs.2025.35.1.08

Abstract

In the subjective opinion of converts, the decision of religious conversion is seen as a source of their happiness. The research instrument, consisting of a netnographic method and Lewis R. Rambo Model, enabled the analysis of selected testimonies of Catholicism to Orthodoxy and Catholicism to Protestantism converts published in Polish social media. The research results indicate the multifaceted nature of both determinants and consequences of religious conversion. The analyzed biographies of those who made the decision to leave Poland’s predominant religious denomination for other minority denominations point out experiencing various life or identity crises, which often brought chaos and instability into converts’ lives. The initial interest in new denomination followed by initiating contacts, either direct or via the Internet, set the process by which they decided to change their religious affiliation, engage in new religious communities and thereby achieving a sense of happiness, a fulfillment resulted from religious experiences, as well as a change in their previous lives.

Keywords:

religion, religious conversion, happiness, netnography

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Zawadzki, G. (2025). In search of happiness. A sociological analysis of religious conversion. Academic Journal of Sociology, 35(1), 79–88. https://doi.org/10.21697/ucs.2025.35.1.08

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.