Leaving a covenantal religion: Orthodox Jewish disaffiliation from an immigration psychology perspective

ABSTRACT This study explored psychological variables associated with disaffiliation from Orthodox Judaism (a covenantal community), and subsequent wellness. A web-based survey (N = 206) assessed factors previously used to study immigrants: push (distress within origin community), pull (toward destination community), and goal attainment. Psychological wellness, perceived stress, overall health, and loneliness were also assessed. Findings included: (1) strong pull toward opportunities for physical and ideological autonomy; (2) those who experienced more push toward disaffiliation, reported decreased current wellness; (3) goal attainment was associated with increased wellbeing; (4) significant differences in the experiences of disaffiliation between men and women; (5) most who disaffiliated left religion altogether; those who remained religious decreased their participation, and few joined non-Jewish faith communities. Results demonstrate that this immigration paradigm can be adapted to advance research on individuals who disaffiliate from covenantal religious communities.

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