The Impact of Religious Conversion on Social Identity in the Republic of Kazakhstan

Abstract

This work contains a comprehensive overview of psychological research on religious conversion and spiritual transformation, which went through a remarkable growth in the past generation. The period from 1900 to the 1930s was marked by the work of James, Hall, Freud and their followers; subsequent restrictions stopped such work. In the 1960s, this area re-emerged; since then, it has significantly expanded. A new study examines the conversion to various religions, including Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. New religious movements and spirituality. Conversion is seen as a process varying in speed, motivation, context, and direction, including deconversion. World religions are similar in many ways; the scholar Stephen Prothero calls this resemblance a “family resemblance”. All religions include rituals, scriptures, holy days and gathering places. Each religion gives its followers instructions concerning the way that people should deal with each other. In addition, the three world religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – have a common origin: they all go back to the biblical figure of Abraham. Nowadays there are few countries in the world with such a diversity of ethnic and religious groups as Kazakhstan.

Keywords: religious conversion, social identity, sociology of religion, religious affiliation, phenomenon