R. Sandell, Organizational life aboard the moving bandwagons: A network analysis of dropouts from a Swedish temperance organization, 1896-1937, ACT SOCIOL, 42(1), 1999, pp. 3-15
One consistent finding in research on social movement organizations is that
new members are recruited along established lines of interaction. Drawing
on these findings, I argue that an individual's decision to leave a social
movement organization is the result of similar influences. Using informatio
n about membership turnover over time in a local Swedish temperance organiz
ation, I test whether the dropout propensity of existing members is related
to prior members' dropout decisions. I find that existing members' dropout
propensity increases when their socially relevant others drop out of the o
rganization, Thus, the results suggest that the decision processes concerni
ng leaving and joining an organization are mirror images, This should have
implications for any analysis of social movement organizations because only
when this duality of interpersonal influences is considered can we fully u
nderstand the social dynamics of social movement organizations.