The children of converts: Beyond the first generation of contemporary Pagans

Abstract

Very little is known about the adult religious retention of children and adolescents in New Religious Movements (NRMs). The current study seeks to examine the factors that determine the success of one NRM, contemporary Paganism, at retaining the children of its first generation of converts. Using a small convenience internet sample (n=183), we found that 45% of our sample continued to practice Paganism as adults, and a further 25% remained spiritually Pagan. We find that children and adolescents who were very religious Pagans are much more likely to remain members of the religion as adults, controlling for age, gender and sexual orientation. We also find that children who grew up in more specifically defined Pagan paths, such as Wicca or Druidism, are more likely to remain Pagan and in those paths, than children who were raised in more vaguely defined ways such as ‘eclectic Pagan’.