The psychology of cults: investigating their mental traps

Why do some people join cults and allow themselves to be manipulated?

The study of cults is one of the most interesting fields of study within the branch of social psychology. But... what does the psychology of cults consist of?

The case of Charles Manson

In the late 1960s, an Ohio musician named Charles Manson established himself as a guru in San Francisco during the "Summer of Love," a hippie festival and rally. hippie festival and rally. His aspirations were to be famous and a millionaire, and it didn't take him long to get his first group of followers, who formed a cult called "The Manson Family".

Soon they all went to live on a ranch where Manson instructed them in what he called Helter Skelter (a term taken from the Beatles' song of the same name). Beatles' song of the same name), a supposed race war between blacks and whites that was coming.

In the sect there used to be five women for every man, and they held weekly psychedelic orgies with marijuana, peyote, LSD and rape of minors included. Manson made sure that his followers lost their sexual taboos, inducing them to behaviors related to homosexuality, anal sex, etc.

Charles Manson never killed anyone with his own hands, but several murders are attributed to his acolytes, among them that of Sharon Tate, a woman who had been murdered by the Manson family.including that of Sharon Tate, the then wife of Roman Polanski. Roman Polanski.

This introduction leads us to ask ourselves several questions: What leads someone to join a cult and take obedience to extremes such as murder? What happens inside cults? What is the psychological profile of their leaders?

Cults and their mental traps

Cults are complex groups, formed by a hierarchical and pyramidal structure, led by a charismatic guru who demands an exploitative type of devotion and dedication that usually ends up leading to emotional, social or economic damage to individuals.

Psychological profile of a cult leader

The psychological profile of a cult guru is highly complex.. They are people with great capacity to seduce and entangle the participants of the group, so that among their personal characteristics are loquacity, lip service and a high degree of social skills. Cult leaders are capricious, tyrannical and even despotic, and end up verbally, physically or sexually abusing their members.

They do not tolerate their authority being questioned and seek to parasitize their members in order to extract all their resources. They are driven by narcissism and the need to control others to achieve their own ends.

They are fueled by excessive egos and shape the world according to their own vision, manipulating individuals.manipulating individuals. They are specialists in capturing people's weaknesses in order to provide them with what they need and thus attract them even more to themselves.

At what point does a person decide to join a cult?

The entrance in these groups usually happens in a soft and progressive way.. Through a process of seduction, people are enticed with promises. Normally this point coincides with a moment of personal crisis of the individual that increases their vulnerability and their need to find "magical" or "divine" solutions to their problems.

People with a strong degree of loneliness or with an existential crisis that prevents them from finding meaning in their lives are also vulnerable.

What happens within cults?

Within the sects worldly tactics of social influence are employed, taken to an extreme that is neither permissible nor ethical.taken to an extreme that is neither permissible nor ethical.

The ideology imparted by the leader is the only valid one, and any hint of doubt that appears in the mind of the follower will be annulled by means of verbal abuse, humiliation, humiliation or ridicule. It is in the interest of the individual to bend his personality and end up obeying all the indications of the leader. Thus, an emotional destabilization of the members is produced.

Secrecy

Within the sects there is a lot of secrecy.. What happens inside cannot be told outside under any circumstances. Moreover, members are made to believe that they are fortunate to know these secrets, and they play on the feeling of exclusivity. The acolytes must feel important and fortunate to receive such information.

The ultimate goals of cults

Cults are not always looking for sex or money. Most of them seek to gain power and control of the members' minds. The money comes later, once the will has been controlled.

The individual believes that the donations he makes are voluntary, is not aware of the previous brainwashing to which he has been subjected..

Basic characteristics of cults

According to British sociologist Bryan Wilsonsome characteristics common to all cults would be the following:

• People join voluntarilyAlthough it can be induced.
• Membership may be subject to scrutiny by the group's authorities. of the group.
• There may be a small elite of people who are assigned "secret knowledge" or special skills that can be reached by "climbing the ladder" within the group.
• There is a claim to exclusivityThe group's doctrine, moral or organizational precepts are sanctioned against those who contravene them.
• It aspires to personal perfection. perfection.

Dangers of joining a sect

Usually people do not realize the danger of what they are getting into until they are already inside. Joining a cult can cause serious damage in several areas of the followers' lives.

The main consequences are as follows:

• Isolation of individuals from the world in general and from family or personal relationships in particular. Isolation of individuals from the world in general and from their family or personal relationships in particular.
• Control of all the information that reaches them.
• A fatalistic and demonizing discourse is installed of the world and of people who are not part of the sect, so that individuals are likely to develop strong feelings of fear and distrust of life.
• Loss of the ability to think critically.There is no democracy in any of the links of the hierarchy, nor are questions and suggestions allowed.
• Mental destabilization of the members.
• Exorbitant financial demands..
• Attacks against physical integrity.
• Disturbances of public order.

As in the case of Charles Manson, people become so emotionally and financially involved that they may commit crimes simply because they obey the instructions of the leader. they may commit crimes simply because they obey the leader's instructions.. Human beings can do unimaginable things because someone tells them to do them.

To know more

There are two theories that explain the behavior of the followers within the sects:

• The work of Solomon Asch and his theory of conformism, which describes the relationship between the reference group and the individual person. A subject who has neither the knowledge nor the ability to make decisions (as is the case with cult acceptors) will transfer decision making to the group and its hierarchy. The group will be the model of the person's behavior..

• Stanley Milgram's theory of objectification, which states that the essence of obedience consists in the fact that a person sees himself as an instrument that carries out the desires of other personsand therefore does not consider himself responsible for his actions. This is the basis, for example, of military respect for authority, where soldiers will obey and carry out the instructions given by their superiors with the understanding that the responsibility lies with the latter.