Factors affecting membership of new religious movement participants in Turkey (A research in the example of Jehovah's Witnesses)

The new religious movements began to gain popularity in a short time after their emergence. Such groups, which use various methods to gain supporters, have managed to attract the attention of people in many parts of the world, and some movements have reached the number of members expressed in millions. It has naturally become a matter of curiosity what kind of membership process those who participate in such formations, which also operate in our country and reach a certain fan base, are in. From this point of view, in this study, the factors affecting the membership of new religious movement participants in Turkey were examined through the example of Jehovah's Witnesses. Qualitative research method was used in the research and 12 participants who were Jehovah's Witnesses were interviewed. The religious beliefs and attitudes of individuals before they became Jehovah's Witnesses, the situations they encountered during the membership process, and the situations they encountered after joining the movement were discussed in three stages. In the light of the collected data, it has been seen that not a single factor, but more than one variable is effective in individuals leaving their old religious beliefs in our country and joining the Jehovah's Witness movement.