The Lofland-Stark Conversion Model: A Critical Reassessment

The most refined and widely cited conversion model within the sociological literature is the value-added scheme propounded by Lofland and Stark (1965) well over a decade ago. This paper is a critical examination of the Lofland-Stark model. Data derived from an extensive study of recruitment and conversion to the Nichiren Shoshu Buddhist movement in America provide little empirical support for the model in its entirety. Several components of the model are also theoretically questionable. The analysis suggests that affective and intensive interaction are not only essential for conversion to Nichiren Shoshu, but that conversion in general is highly improbable in the absence of these two factors. The proliferation of religious movements and mass therapies during the past decade has prompted some observers to suggest that America is currently "gripped by an epidemic of sudden personality change" (Conway and Siegelman, 1978:11; Zurcher, 1977) and that we are living in an "age of conversion" (Richardson and Stewart, 1978:24). Although one can quibble over the accuracy of such characterizations, there is little question that the phenomenon of conversion has indeed captured the attention of a growing number of laymen and of social scientists (Colson, 1976; Conway and Siegelman, 1978; Enroth, 1977; Patrick, 1976; Richardson, 1978). Within sociology, conversion has traditionally been explained as a sequential "funneling"process, including psychological, situational and interactional factors (see Gerlach and Hine, 1970; Richardson et al., 1978; Seggar and Kunz, 1972; Shibutani, 1961; Toch, 1965; Zablocki, 1971). Of the various works representative of this approach to conversion, the most prominent is the model propounded well over a decade ago by Lofland and Stark (1965; see also Lofland, 1966). Based on a field study of the early American devotees of Sun Myung Moon (hereafter referred to as the Unification Church), the model suggests that "total" conversion, involving behavioral as well as verbal commitment, is a function of the accumulation of seven "necessary and constellationally-sufficient conditions" (Lofland and Stark, 1965:874). Specifically, a person must (1) experience enduring and acutely-felt "tensions," (2) within a "religious problem-solving perspective," (3) which results in self-designation as a "religious seeker." Additionally, the prospective convert must (4) encounter the movement or cult at a "turning point" in life, (5) form an "affective bond" with one or more believers, (6) "neutralize" or sever "extracult attachments," and (7) be exposed to "intensive interaction" with other converts in order to become an active and dependable adherent. The first three factors are classified as "predisposing." They hypothetically exist prior to contact with the group and function to render the individual susceptible to conversion once contact is established. The remaining four factors are regarded as "situational" contingencies. They hypothetically lead to recruitment to one group rather than another, if any other, and to the adoption of the group's world view. In the absence of these situational factors, total conversion will not occur, no matter how predisposed or susceptible the prospective convert may be. Accordingly, the conversion process is conceptualized as a value-added process in which the addition of each new condition increases the probability that conversion will occur. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to our understanding of conversion by critically examining the Lofland-Stark model and the extent to which it applies to our findings on conversion to the Nichiren Shoshu Buddhist movement in America. Two issues guide the inquiry. The first has to do with the model's empirical generalizability. Lofland initially suggested that the applica