“I had to open my eyes”—A narrative approach to studying the process of adult belief change

Abstract Why do people, socialized and sedimented in their political beliefs, change their convictions in adulthood? Belief change has a long history of research in the social sciences. Yet, in quantitative research, belief change is studied largely through cognitive and behavioral lenses, that, however valuable, struggle to capture how people themselves experience and narrate transformation and how this is made meaningful and sustained as a social process . Additionally, qualitative studies on belief change remain marginal in the field and are often confined to case‐specific analyses of radical conversions. In response to this gap, this paper develops a qualitative and narrative approach to studying belief change. First, we argue that belief change is biographically situated, culturally mediated and socially embedded. Then, we draw on two contrasting case studies—on turning towards conspiracy theories and gaining anti‐racist awareness through film—to find “master narratives” of belief change. We offer a framework that distinguishes three recurring narrative steps, rooted in cultural repertoires: retrospective constructions of past selves, narrations of transformation, and interpretations of present selves in relation to these transformations. This theoretical and methodological framework aims to contribute to the further understanding of belief change as not only an attitudinal shift but also a reworking of one's life story.