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Men's grooming in the Latter-day Saints Church: A qualitative study of norm violation

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

The role of personal grooming as an indicator of commitment to church hierarchy is examined in a study of one congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Latter-day Saints Church policy urges men to be clean-shaven. In the present study, we interview all men in one ward who have worn beards or mustaches, in order to investigate questions of authority, identity, and conflict that occurred as a result of violating the grooming norm. Interviewees describe an identity conflict, with self-expression conflicting with the desire to demonstrate faithfulness to their church. In some cases, they reconcile the conflict by conforming to the norm; in others, they violate the norm out of a sense of asserting their own identity, but this comes at a cost of distance from their church identity.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)807-825
Number of pages19
JournalMental Health, Religion and Culture
Volume11
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - 2008

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  1. SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
    SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Clinical Psychology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

Keywords

  • Latter-day Saints
  • Men's grooming
  • Norm violation

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