The Psychology Behind Famous Cults
By Yamilet Chalba ('25)
We’ve all heard about cults before. They can be really interesting, but also intimidating at the same time. After all, it's in their nature. The psychology behind them comes off as alluring to the outside world.
A while ago, I read the book Captive by Catherine Oxenberg, in which a mother (Catherine Oxenberg) fights to help her daughter get out of a dangerous cult. These kinds of stories have always been fascinating for me. I constantly think about who joins a cult and why they do it? And What makes them susceptible to that kind of control?
The answer lies in vulnerability. Those sucked into cults have vulnerabilities. They have something in their life that they are lacking, and/or have suffered from an unfortunate event in their life. It could be the death of a loved one, a breakup, a loss of a job. The biggest vulnerability, however, lies in their identity; most of the people sucked into cults are merely trying to find themselves.
Recruiters for cults target future members' vulnerable spots and convince them to join their cult. The only way recruitment becomes unsuccessful is if members have a strong, grounded mind, or if they have a good supportive network, which can help a person steer away from joining one in the first place.
Photo Courtesy of The New Yorker
Contrary to beliefs, cults shouldn’t be considered cults just because they are not quite familiar to people. For example, the Quakers and the Seventh Adventists were once considered cults because of their unfamiliarity with the public. At the time, they were not religious cults, but rather other ideas that people weren’t quite used to. The term cults have been thrown around regarding organizations that are not necessarily cults but include ideas people aren’t used to. But what exactly does a cult do? Cults influence the destruction of members' old identity and replace it with a new unrecognizable identity. Contrary to the belief created by media that cults are just religious cults that one has to sacrifice something to get displaced. What makes a cult hard to pinpoint exactly, is its various types of cults, it could be politics, media, self-growth, MLM (multi-level- marketing), or conspiracy theories, for example.
Therefore it is hard to throw the term around so loosely when there are various types of cults.
There are two types of influences, due influence involves the individual making the decision, consent, and the right of questioning around them.
But on the other hand, undue influence occurs when one individual, in a relationship, persuades another individual to make the decision. Said individual wants the other individual to decide due to their relationship's dynamic. In an undue influence, the individual is not allowed to question anything and their inner voice is suppressed. It causes isolation, control, fear, and enslavement.
Photo Courtesy of Vanity Fair
In many of these cults, they present themselves as an illusion that illustrates them giving the members a choice that they have a right to make their own choices. This is not the case in most cults; they just want to present themselves that way so they can lure more people to join. Cults gradually reveal their true characteristics to newly joined members that are already sucked into the depth of their lies.
But all undue influence is destructive. It is also known as mind control on the part of the cult. It's so they can build a relationship with the members at first, gain trust, then slowly increase their power. Cult leaders want followers for their orders and rules and don't want any disobedience. They want people that will work hard for them for little pay and not expect anything more. These members are pretty much willing ‘’slaves’’.
Photo Courtesy of Study.com
Some of these cults are responsible for illegal activities as well. Members feel nothing but happiness when they perform well in these tasks given by leaders. Said members have such a belief that they are living the ‘’true way’’ of life. Obedience is a must for them all. They must listen to their leaders, and can not leave half the time. The leaders of the cult don’t have to resort to violence for members to stay with them, they have already manipulated them to never leave since leaders guilt trip them into never thinking of such ideas. One may think that undue influence means destroying a member's old identity, but this isn't always the case; they rather suppress these old identities and create a new one.
These new identities are created by step-by-step indoctrination sessions, videos, games, movies, and social/digital media interventions.
Behavioral modifications are put in place, as well as the method of giving out good or bad rewards through control of the environment (isolation or restricting access to others). The outcome is that a new identity is built and the old one is suppressed and thrown away. They also restrict access to the outside world and non-cults members as their ideals since it may disrupt the ideas put in place by the leaders. They want to isolate members so they have full control of them. This causes severe side effects such as PTSD, depression, lack of trust, fear, etc.
But what can we do? In this era where cult mind control is growing more and more, it is necessary to understand the basics of cults to identify them and to combat their influence. The first step is educating yourself and others to lead to prevention for you and others around. And if friends or any family members are in any of these destructive groups you can help them by reaching out.
Cover photo courtesy of Talk Film Society.