Religious Recruitment and the Management of Dissonance: A Sociological Perspective*

While religious organizations are not concerned with cognitive dissonance, per se, their concerns with acquiring new members maintaining member beliefs, obtaining member commitments and deterring members from leaving. are all affected by their abilities to manage (avoid, tolerate and exploit) dissonance experienced by those persons. Conceptualizing dissonance as a socially negotiable phenomenon, a sociological version of dissonance is examined in the context of religious recruitment.