Author: Matthew Davis / Source: Big Think
- The beliefs of cults and other extreme ideologies are patently bizarre to any outsider observer.
- Despite how strange their beliefs are and the stereotype, most people who get sucked into cults are relatively normal and healthy at first.
- Watching out for these four manipulative tactics can help you from getting suckered by cults, scams, and other extreme organizations.
Scientologists believe that human beings are vessels for the ghosts of brainwashed aliens. Heaven’s Gate believed that committing mass suicide would enable them to enter a spaceship flying in the wake of the Hale-Bopp comet. The leader of the Branch Davidians said he was the messiah and all women were his “spiritual wives.” With views this crazy, the only thing crazier is that people seem to buy into cults at all.
Well, it turns out that human beings are—under the right conditions—extremely gullible. Cult members target likely candidates and use proven techniques to recruit new members into the cult. Even though cults can have wildly different beliefs, the way they recruit and retain new members tends to follow a general pattern. Here are the four steps to getting sucked into a cult.
Picking the right target
(EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)
Scientologists often target celebrities for recruitment due to their influence and wealth.
As it turns out, most people can be susceptible to cult influence under the right conditions. Research has shown that the people who are the most susceptible to recruitment are stressed, emotionally vulnerable, have tenuous or no family connections, or are living in adverse socioeconomic conditions. New college students are a prime example of good targets for cult recruitment since they’re still forming their identity and have recently been separated from their families. In addition, people who were neglected or abused as children may be easily recruited because they crave the validation denied them in their childhood.
There’s a bit of a false belief out there that cult recruits tend to be mentally ill, but this usually isn’t the case. Cults don’t want completely unpredictable people to join; rather, they want relatively stable people who can work to forward the cult’s goal and donate money. Relatively…
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