Transformations in Close Relationships and Spatial Belonging Following Religious Disaffiliation

This research project examines the relationships between people who have left a long-term religious community and their close family members and friends who remain within it, as well as experiences of place among the disaffiliated.

Religion can provide a meaningful worldview and a lasting group identity, but it can also create boundaries between people. As affiliation with religious communities becomes more diverse and less common, an increasing number of people live in families and close relationships where religious views are not shared.

The project approaches religious disaffiliation as a relational phenomenon. It focuses on the relationships between former members and their close others who continue to belong to the community, as well as on changes in the meanings attached to places after disaffiliation. The study generates new knowledge about how shifts in group boundaries shape close relationships and experiences of place, while also offering insights into the transformation that occurs when a close ingroup member becomes a close outgroup member.

The research is based on interview data collected from individuals who have left the fifth revivalist movement within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, as well as from current members of the movement whose close family member or friend has left the community.