Thesis (M.R.E.)--B.Y.U. Dept. of Graduate Studies in Religious Instruction.

Thesis (M.A.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of History. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 159-164).

Thesis (M.A.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of History. / Electronic thesis. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 159-164). Also available in print ed.

Thesis (M.A.)--Brigham Young University, Dept. of History. / Electronic thesis. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-111). Also available in print ed.

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Geography. / Electronic thesis. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 114-118). Also available in print ed.

abstract: This study investigated how young adults communicate their decision to religiously disaffiliate to their parents. Both the context in which the religious disaffiliation conversation took place and the communicative behaviors used during the religious disaffiliation conversation were studied. Research questions and hypotheses were guided by Family Communication Patterns Theory and Face Negotiation Theory. A partially mixed sequential quantitative dominate status design was employed to answer the research questions and hypotheses. Interviews were conducted with 10 young adults who had either disaffiliated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or the Watch Tower Society. During the interviews, the survey instrument was refined; ultimately, it was completed by 298 religiously disaffiliated young adults. For the religious disaffiliation conversation’s context, results indicate that disaffiliated Jehovah’s Witnesses had higher conformity orientations than disaffiliated Latter-day Saints. Additionally, disaffiliated Jehovah’s Witnesses experienced more stress than disaffiliated Latter-day Saints. Planning the conversation in advance did lead to the disaffiliation conversation being less stressful for young adults. Furthermore, the analysis found that having three to five conversations reduced stress significantly more than having one or two conversations. For the communicative behaviors during the religious disaffiliation conversation, few differences were found in regard to prevalence of the facework behaviors between the two groups. Of the 14 facework behaviors, four were used more often by disaffiliated JW than disaffiliated LDS—abuse, passive aggressive, pretend, and defend self. In terms of effectiveness, the top five facework behaviors were talk about the problem, consider the other, have a private discussion, remain calm, and defend self. Overall, this study begins the conversation on how religious disaffiliation occurs between young adults and their parents and extends Family Communication Patterns Theory and Face Negotiation Theory to a new context. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Communication 2015

One of John Taylor's most significant achievements during his mission to France, 1849-1851, was the publication of a French-language Latter-day Saint periodical, the Etoile du Déséret. Appearing in twelve issues from May 1851 to December 1852, the Etoile served a variety of functions for the earliest missionaries and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in France. A study of its historical context and of its contents allows readers a glimpse into the circumstances under which the missionaries labored and into the needs of the growing Church. Furthermore, the Etoile provides a vivid example of John Taylor's spiritual leadership, proselytizing methods, and preaching skills.The French Mission was established in 1850, three years after the arrival of the Latter-day Saints in the Salt Lake Valley and two years after a revolution had removed the French monarchy from power and instituted a republic. Although civilization was just taking root in the Great Basin, several members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles departed on foreign missions in the fall of 1849, including John Taylor. Elder Taylor, his companion Curtis E. Bolton, and early convert Louis A. Bertrand took advantage of the liberties granted in the French constitution of 1848 in order to inaugurate their publication. The periodical allowed them to spread their message farther than they could have otherwise, since their proselytizing was limited by governmental restrictions and Taylor's difficulties in speaking French.The contents of the Etoile du Déséret reveal that the missionaries used their periodical to introduce Latter-day Saint doctrine and news to readers, in addition to communicating with and instructing fledgling members of the Church. Historical details included in the text allow contemporary readers to create a timeline of events in the early French Mission, such as the establishment of a new branch and the publication of the Book of Mormon in French.This thesis contends that the twelve issues of the Etoile du Déséret considered together reveal a systematic preaching method in John Taylor's writings, personal and spiritual growth on the part of the men who worked on the publication, and the situation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during its earliest years in France.

The relationship between media and religion has been influenced by many factors in history. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has received a great deal of media attention throughout the world in the past five years. In Italy, the Church National Council of Public Relations worked to provide the media with the necessary information to report accurate news about the Church. This thesis collected the information provided to the Italian media by the Church National Council and analyzed the main topic and the level of accuracy reported by the Italian media on Church-related news. The results show that Italian media tend to use the information provided by the Church only when discussing the Church in Italy, but still report a great deal of inaccurate or misleading information when discussing the Church in the world.

This study examined differences between Latter-Day Saint (LDS) and non-Latter-Day Saint (non-LDS) females across six universities in the United States regarding desire to engage in substance use and eating behaviors in response to negative emotion. Additionally, this study explored differences between LDS and non-LDS females regarding body image, as well as body image differences between LDS females residing inside Utah and outside Utah. Findings suggested that non-LDS females were more likely to experience increased urges to use substances in response to negative emotion than LDS females, consistent with LDS doctrine teaching the avoidance of substance use. LDS females also did not appear to substitute LDS-sanctioned eating behaviors for substance use in response to negative emotion, as has previously been suggested by other researchers. Additionally, LDS females were found to have more positive body image than non-LDS females generally, although LDS females in Utah have less positive body images than LDS females residing in other states. Body image findings are substantial since body image distress is rampant and is a risk factor for the development of eating disorders. Clinical implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Religious affiliation and its inherent membership in an associated social network as a sociolinguistic factor is examined in the community of Latter-day Saints (LDS) in Cardston, Alberta. Building on Meechan's 1998 findings that the LDS community in the area used Canadian Raising in a different set of phonotactic environments than the surrounding non-LDS English speakers, the study aims to determine if the LDS community uses other Canadian speech features differently or less frequently and if any Utah features (defined as Utah English in the literature, being the language of LDS English speakers in Utah) have continued from the settling of the area by Utahns in the 1880s. The study analyzes the effect of religious affiliation on dialect leveling and general sociolinguistic change. To perform the study, interviews were conducted with 51 informants eliciting items characterized by Canadian and Utahn features. Statistical and inferential analysis shows that one Utah feature, the cord-card merger, survived in a very attenuated form in the speech of older respondents, and Canadian features were generally less prevalent among the LDS. It is concluded that religious affiliation is a factor in the phonology of the region.