Keywords

early returned missionaries, religious identity, developmental transformation

Abstract

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, qualified young men are expected (and young women are given the option) to complete extended missionary service during the transition to adulthood. Some youth end their missionary service short of the anticipated duration, which is associated with markedly lower rates of religious activity post-return. This study is a qualitative inquiry into the developmental themes associated with early returned missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who chose to remain active (be consistently involved with the church), sampling from areas with high rates of Latter-day Saint activity, where stigmatization of an early return is highest. Seventeen active early returned missionaries were administered semi-structured interviews. Six prominent (occurring a majority of the time) developmental themes emerged from these interviews: identity transformation, optimistic future orientation, cognitive/emotional reconciliation, strengthened religious conviction, enhanced empathic capacity, and perceptual change. Perceptual change would have been a non-majority theme if male responses had been excluded. Three contrast cases of inactive early returned missionaries are included.

Original Publication Citation

Developmental themes associated with religious activity after early return from a Latter-day Saint mission. Hancock, S. E., Hardy, S. A., Goodman, M.A., Angell, C., & Nelson, J. M. (2026). Journal of the Mormon Social Science Association, 4(1), 77–101.

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2026

Publisher

Journal of the Mormon Social Science Association

Language

English

College

Religious Education

Department

Church History and Doctrine

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

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