Religious Exiting and Social Networks: Computer Simulations of Religious/Secular Pluralism

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This article uses agent-based simulations in three “artificial societies” (one predominantly religious; one predominantly secular; and one in between), to demonstrate that worldview pluralism within one’s neighborhood and family social networks can be a significant predictor of religious (dis)affiliation but in pluralistic societies worldview diversity is less important and, instead, people move toward worldview neutrality.

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Cragun, Ryan; McCaffree, Kevin; Puga-Gonzalez, Ivan; Wildman, Wesley & Shults, F. LeRon March 12, 2021.

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This article uses agent-based simulations in three “artificial societies” (one predominantly religious; one predominantly secular; and one in between), to demonstrate that worldview pluralism within one’s neighborhood and family social networks can be a significant predictor of religious (dis)affiliation but in pluralistic societies worldview diversity is less important and, instead, people move toward worldview neutrality.

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20 p.

Notes

Abstract: Statistical models attempting to predict who will disaffiliate from religions have typically accounted for less than 15% of the variation in religious affiliations, suggesting that we have only a partial understanding of this vital social process. Using agent-based simulations in three “artificial societies” (one predominantly religious; one predominantly secular; and one in between), we demonstrate that worldview pluralism within one’s neighborhood and family social networks can be a significant predictor of religious (dis)affiliation but in pluralistic societies worldview diversity is less important and, instead, people move toward worldview neutrality. Our results suggest that there may be two phases in religious disaffiliation: (1) the early adopters initially disaffiliate regardless of social support, and subsequently (2) disaffiliation spreads as support for it within local social networks widens and it appears more acceptable. An important next step is for sociologists to confirm or correct the theoretical findings of this model using real-world social-network data, which will require overcoming the measurement difficulties involved in estimating each individual’s degree of local network pluralism.

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  • Secularism & Nonreligion, 10(2), Ubiquity Press, March 12 2021, pp. 1-20

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  • Publication Title: Secularism & Nonreligion
  • Volume: 10
  • Issue: 2
  • Peer Reviewed: Yes

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  • March 12, 2021

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  • Oct. 21, 2021, 11:06 a.m.

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  • Nov. 9, 2021, 11:11 a.m.

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Cragun, Ryan; McCaffree, Kevin; Puga-Gonzalez, Ivan; Wildman, Wesley & Shults, F. LeRon. Religious Exiting and Social Networks: Computer Simulations of Religious/Secular Pluralism, article, March 12, 2021; (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1852144/: accessed December 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences.

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