Written by Kristina Micallef Pulè
“Power resides only where men believe it resides. […] A shadow on the wall, yet shadows can kill. And ofttimes a very small man can cast a very large shadow.” (George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings). This quote from the beloved Game of Thrones saga tells us a lot about, well, the power of power. And power is simply what most everything is about. There are numerous way of exerting power; be it benevolent or with a malicious intent. One way it can be done is through the terrifying yet intriguing cult.
Information about the dangers and innerworkings of cults is readily available for anyone who is not living under a rock. Yet, somehow people are still joining them and ending up in potentially dangerous situations. If there is so much information about the dangers of these cults, why do people still get roped into them? Numerous theories and studies in social psychology suggest that it is all a matter of manipulation and abuse of power.
What is a cult?
Rousselet et al, (2017) define ‘cults’ as an organised group of people or a solitary person who aim to dominate others through manipulating and pressuring them. The first thing that comes to mind is religion, those types of cults are all over the media; but not all cults are based off of a religion. Some are based off a political ideology, like with the Ku Klux Klan and Nazism. Polygamist like ‘Bountiful’ in Canada, or ‘human potential-based’ like with ‘Kenja’ in Australia, and others offer unethical and unwarranted types of therapy.
Christianity started off as what can be defined as a cult. However, cults and religions are not the same thing. Christianity eventually became integrated within many societies and cultures around the world. You find people who identify as Christian but do not live their lives precisely to its doctrine. When someone is part of a cult, they have no choice but to follow the rules and norms to a tee.
Recipe for Cults
The very characteristics of a cult are what makes them so dangerous. Yet they are a source of great curiosity for those interested in group behaviour and social influence. Within a cult, you will surely come across:
- A charismatic leader; someone who delivers grand speeches, makes each and every member feel like they belong within the community, and claims that the outside world is evil.
- A high level of commitment to this leader. By devising a strict hierarchy, everyone does as the leader commands.
- There are claims for answers for the most compelling of questions, and recipes for change for those seeking it.
- Providing promises for solutions to people’s problems.
- Very little tolerance for internal conflicts. Amidst all the propaganda and rhetoric that is fed to its members this is the scariest and most deceiving attribute of a cult is that there is.
- External scrutiny and criticism is highly frowned upon in fear that their true agenda should be revealed.
Why do people join cults?
It is no wonder that the very prospect of joining a cult boggles and terrifies people; after all, who wants to give their freedom away like that? Social psychology denies the idea that we willingly choose to lose all control over our lives; but poses a number of theories that might just explain why we do. From a psychological and sociological aspect, we know that humans are inherently social beings; and if we’ve learnt anything from COVID-19, it’s that. Here are a number of factors that could be at play when one unknowingly forms part of a cult:
- Conformity: This is a classic example of how we surrender ourselves to group pressure. According to Asch (1950s), the more people present at a given time, the more pressure there is to conform to an opinion/idea. I can think of many instances where I have conformed to the majority in an attempt to avoid embarrassment and to fit in.
- Obedience to Authority: Milgram (1963) conducted a study where an unknowing participant had to administer fake electric shocks to their confederate partner each time they purposely got an answer to a test wrong. 65% percent of participants administered the highest voltage, thinking that they were administering real electrical shocks. When being asked, why they still administered the shocks despite their actor partner’s evident pain and discomfort, most said that they were just doing as they were told. Milgram (1963) coined the term ‘Agentic State’ – referring to when someone disregards any responsibility to their actions, just because they are being told to do so.
- Social Power: Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment (1971) is a common example of social power. A number of participants were split into guards and prisoners and were sent to a location unbeknownst to them. Almost immediately, the guards assumed a position of power and were becoming aggressive with the prisoners. Despite being highly unethical, it showed that anyone can assume a position of power when given to them, and that we can disregard our own values and beliefs to get a job done.
- Crowd Behaviour: Le Bon (1895) posed that anonymity in a crowd leads one to disregard social constraints and can lead to violence. Zimbardo (1969) coined the ‘Deindividuation’ theory, where one is said to lose their identity and individuality when part of a crowd. This is often observed in cults when people seem to disassociate from their past lives and identities in order to pursue a new one within the cult.
- Group Polarisation: When one finds themselves in a group, opinions and decisions become very strong due to that sense of community. This leads to risk taking and deciding on extreme courses of action.
- Groupthink: Due to a desire for harmony and compliance, realistic and appropriate decisions and courses of action are dismissed. A consensus might be reached without there being a critical evaluation.
Seeking Refuge
Alternatively, the seemingly unconscious attachment to such organisations is compared to addiction to substances. Like with alcohol or drugs, these communities might serve as a place of refuge and distraction from the difficult realities a person might be facing. Oftentimes, cult members recruit vulnerable people who are either; recovering from a substance abuse disorder, grieving the loss of a loved one, have just received bad news, or are outcasted from society. In turn, these people think of the cult as being a safe space – a place where they can finally belong and be with like-minded people. This is until they unfortunately realise that they have been manipulated. Eventually they start experiencing subtle (and extreme in some cases) forms of abuse; especially when they try to disassociate from the cult.
The experience of a cult-escapee:
Intriguing and interesting as they might seem, the truth of the matter is that cults are an opportunity for power-hungry, manipulative, and potentially dangerous individuals to have a surprising amount of control over a group of people like you and me. There is a lot of information out there and countless horror stories of people who managed to escape cults, but somehow people keep getting lured into them. Perhaps this happens subconsciously, or due to vulnerability, or the psychological factors mentioned above. Maybe it is a mixture of everything combined. Either way, cults are still at large, even if they are not immediately visible, and people are still joining them.
Check out some more work from BETAPSI: The Thin Line Between Sexual Deviance and Sexual Offence
