Warping Reality: Inside the Psychology of Cults

Thousands of cults exist in the world right now and they fall into five major categories: religious, political, self-help/pseudo therapy, commercial/business, and cults of personality. Explore seven of the most notorious cults in modern history—from NXIVM, most recently in the news, to the Peoples Temple, which culminated in the murder and suicide of 900 people.

Many scholars believe there is no clean and neat definition of a cult. Instead, you’ll learn why they judge eight specific characteristics of an organization as being on a spectrum of less cultish or more cultish. You’ll also meet two individuals, each of whom was in an organization for 10 years before recognizing it for what it was—a cult—and eventually leaving.

Continue to explore the eight characteristics of cults and learn why your professor adds one more criterion to that classic list. Explore the importance of describing cults as groups that are at least ultimately destructive—physically harmful or psychologically coercive—whether to their own members or to outsiders.

Stereotypes tell us that cult leaders are fanatical, evil, power-hungry, sex-obsessed men. Explore a more nuanced and expanded psychological profile of cult leaders. These are the personality traits or circumstances that contribute to the cult leaders’ rare ability to amass a loyal following and their malevolent mindset.

And what about the characteristics of cult members? Are they a fairly homogenous group? Is there one particular type of person who is most likely to fall prey to the psychological manipulation of a cult leader? As you explore the common traits of cult members, you might be surprised by how many of them are usually considered by society as positive attributes.

Learn how cult leaders take advantage of the kindness and sincerity of their recruits by using tactics of manipulation and indoctrination. After promising that the cult will provide seemingly everything the recruits were searching for and welcoming them with effusive “love bombing,” what specific steps do the leaders use to manipulate both their newest and long-term members?

What are the indoctrination strategies that keep people committed to an organization that abuses them, sometimes for years? How can the leaders keep their members once they are on the inside and see the cults’ true behaviors? Explore three of the main techniques used by NXIVM, the Unification Church (“Moonies”), and Heaven’s Gate.

Cult leaders change their members’ identity, loyalty, and behaviors. Explore the four specific tactics cult leaders use to accomplish their goal—to steal each person’s sense of self. You’ll also learn about the social psychology theory called self-discrepancy theory and how it was used in the Heaven’s Gate cult.

Could an abusive romantic relationship be thought of as a “cult for two,” with one leader and one member? Explore the specific aspects of power and sexual abuse that are employed by both intimate abusers and cult leaders—in particular, by the leaders of Children of God, NXIVM, and the Branch Davidians.

Cult members do not easily walk away from the cult—even when they decide they want to. Explore the deep-seated fears cult members grapple with when leaving and the psychological processes that most cult members go through. And once they do break free? You might be shocked to hear what surprises them the most.

What is life like for individuals who leave cults and move back into the normal world, possibly reconnecting with their families and living as independent adults? Explore the aftershock model and what it suggests about short- and long-term experiences after cult life. And learn the important differences between post-traumatic stress disorder and post traumatic growth.

Here, you’ll hear again from Alexandra and Tom, two former cult members you met earlier in this course. Learn more about how they became enmeshed in their respective cults; why they each stayed for a decade; and, for each of them, what was the proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back” that pushed them to finally leave.