The Deconversion as Conflict Hypothesis

Religious deconversion studies are currently attempting to identify deconversion’s psycho-social determinants (Streib, 2021). One of the stronger contenders appears to be value misalignment, which occurs when the individual and their religious community’s values are misaligned, which predates the loss of faith and appears to serve as fertile ground for a believer’s discontent and eventual departure (see Hui, et al., 2018; Saroglou, et al., 2020). However, value alignment theory is also underdeveloped, relies on an impoverished conception of values, and leaves us with several pertinent questions. This paper uses original data from a case study of North American Latter-day Saints and Ex-Mormons to engage with these questions and argue for the deconversion as conflict hypothesis. It brings value misalignment theory into conversation with ‘conflict analysis and resolution studies’ to theorize social-ideological mechanisms which can push believers from value misalignment to religious deconversion, and push believers from value alignment to deeper conversion.