Who Buys New Age Materials? Exploring Sociodemographic, Religious, Network, and Contextual Correlates Of New Age Consumption

Sociology of Religion, Fall, 2000 by Daniel P. Mears, Christopher G. Ellison

Daniel P. Mears [*]

Christopher G. Ellison

Despite the growing interest in New Age spirituality, few studies have explored the correlates of participation in New Age groups or activities. Drawing from previous work on New Age phenomena, and from other established traditions in the sociology of religion, we outline a set of hypotheses linking the consumption of New Age materials with four sets of factors: (a) sociodemographic characteristics; (b) conventional religious affiliation and participation; (c) embeddedness within networks of New Age believers and consumers; and (d) community religious context. We then test these hypotheses using data from a recent telephone survey of Texas residents. Few of the expectations are supported. Indeed, among Texans the purchase of New Age materials is more common and more evenly distributed across social space than previously suspected. By far the strongest predictor of such consumption is embeddedness within interpersonal networks composed of other New Age devotees. We conclude by identifying a number of promisin g directions for future theoretical and empirical work on New Age phenomena.

In the new millennium, an increasingly relevant question for research on religious beliefs and practices is emerging: Are we entering a "New Age," and, if so, who is "buying it" and why? That is, who is purchasing New Age materials and why are they doing so? Compared with the literature on the patterns and correlates of conventional religious participation (e.g., Roof and McKinney 1987; Sherkat and Wilson 1995; Stolzenberg, Blair-Loy, and Waite 1995), the empirical literature on New Age religious beliefs and practices is relatively sparse. Indeed, after reviewing research on New Age movements, Lewis (1992: 11) recently concluded, "One direction that should immediately be pursued [in this area] is quantitative research. ... Part of what is so striking about the current state of scholarship on the subject [of the New Age] is that most of us are working from impressionistic data" (see also Albanese 1992: 308). Indeed, although considerable effort has been expended on conceptualizing and documenting various dime nsions of New Age movements (see, generally, Lewis and Melton 1992; see also Tamney et al. 1991), and particularly the beliefs associated with such movements (e.g., Donahue 1993), systematic empirical or theoretical investigation of the social distribution of participation remains limited. [1]

This study is a response to calls for precisely this type of research. Drawing on ethnographies, case studies, impressionistic treatments of New Age participation, as well as the handful of existing survey-based studies, we outline a series of hypotheses linking consumption of New Age materials (i.e., books, magazines, audio or videotapes, and so forth) with (1) sociodemographic characteristics, (2) conventional religious affiliation and participation, as well as adherence to New Age beliefs, (3) embeddedness within social networks of New Age believers and consumers, and (4) community religious context. Using data from the June 1998 Texas Poll (Scripps Howard News Service 1998) we test these various hypotheses regarding purchase of New Age materials. We then conclude by discussing the theoretical implications of our work and identify several promising directions for future research.

THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT

The phrase "New Age" encompasses many beliefs, practices, and movements that are not easily catalogued or characterized (Lewis 1992: 6).2 Although precise definitions of the New Age remain elusive, most observers trace the origin of many New Age beliefs and practices to Theosophy and New Thought, each of which dates back to the nineteenth century and the earlier work of Franz Anton Mesmer and Emanuel Swedenborg (Alexander 1992: 30; see also Ellwood 1992). Mesmer's and Swedenborg's work centered around interests in "universal brotherhood and comparative religion," views in turn that contributed to the development in the 1950s and 1960s of the human potential movement, based on Abraham Maslow's research on "self-actualizing individuals" and the work of transpersonal psychologists (Alexander 1992: 31, 36-46).

The resulting New Age movement of the 1970s and 1980s combined elements of these various traditions and also of Eastern religions. According to Melton (1992: 18), "It arose, not so much as a new religion, but as a new revivalist religious impulse directed toward the esoteric/metaphysical/Eastern groups and to the mystical strain in all religions." This "impulse" has emphasized transformation of the self through various activities, including channeling (i.e., communicating with and learning from the spirits of the dead), [3] crystals, [4] natural diets, astrology, body work, healing, and so forth (Melton 1992: 19; see also Albanese 1992; Alexander 1992; Brown 1992; Riordan 1992; Tamney 1992). It also has emphasized economic, social, and cultural transformation. For example, Rupert (1992) has noted the use of New Age teachings by businesses to promote increased efficiency and productivity. Similarly, Melton (1992: 19) has identified social and cultural emphases underlying New Age movements: "If personal transf ormation on a large scale is possible, argues the New Age, then social and cultural transformation is also possible.... It is, of course, this hope of the complete transformation of society that gives the movement its name" (see also Hackett 1992; Mullins 1992; Poggi 1992; Mbabuike 1996). In short, whether the focus be on individuals, business, culture, or society, the New Age movement represents a type of "apocalyptic movement" (Melton 1992: 24) in which a seemingly fundamental new way of approaching the self and world is undertaken, what Lewis (1992: 4) has described as a "cultural shift."