One of America’s great promises is freedom of religion – and freedom to change religions. According to a new survey by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life, Americans are frequently doing the latter.

Specifically, the study finds that Americans change their religious affiliation early and often, and the reasons they give for changing – or leaving religion altogether – differ widely depending on the origin and destination of the convert.

For example, most people who change their religion leave their childhood faith before age 24, and many of those who change religion do so more than once, according to the study. What’s more, many people who have left a religion to become unaffiliated, the group that has grown the most from religious switching, say they did so in part because they stopped believing in the teachings of their childhood faith. Many also cite disillusionment with religious people and institutions as reasons for becoming unaffiliated.