Inquiry blog #2 – ‘ Why are people attracted to cults?’
Hi everyone!
My question is ‘ Why are people attracted to cults?’. This question is very interesting to me, as I do not know much about cults, and would like to learn more. I hope you all learn something from my inquiry project 🙂
1- What are cults, and what is there history?
This is important because I must understand cults before being able to answer this question. Knowing the history will help me perceive their complexity. (background)
2- What do people who join cults have in common, and why?
I must understand what type of people join cults. This will help me pinpoint key reasons of why people are attracted to cults. These characteristics may lead to some people being more attracted to cults then others. ( exploring the phycology of the person)
3- How to cults persuade and blind members?
I need to know what tactics cults use that may seem attractive to people. This is important because I must look at the phycology of cults, not only the people in them. By doing this, I can put the pieces together and have a final answer to my question. . ( exploring the phycology behind cult leaders)
Implications to other individuals and/or my community.
- This research will help others better understand cults. Some may be more vulnerable with others, and being educated about the topic can help prevent being drawn into unwanted situations.
- Cults are not very talked about, but it is important to discuss them and the horrific effects they have on people.
- Most people who are in cults, do not know it is a cult. Educating others will lessen the chance of this happening. We talk about the impacts of joining gangs, and why it is very dangerous to join them, but cults can be equally dangerous.
- Being ill-informed can cause people to join a cult, thinking it is a positive thing, when it is not.
- I hope this will teach people about cults, and the characteristics you as an individual have.
- This can help others be warry of their own vulnerabilities.
1
2
3
https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/06/the-seven-signs-youre-in-a-cult/361400/
4
5
Hi Nikki! Like I have said before, I find your topic very interesting. I always knew about cults and how they trick their followers into giving up their life savings and sometimes even their lives, but I never really understood why. Why are these people fooled by crazy ideas of aliens and monsters coming to wipe out civilization? The aspects of said people’s psyche that drove them to such strange and dangerous organizations is still quite a mystery to me, so I am looking forward to your future posts in hope that they will answer my questions!
Some resources that you may find useful are:
https://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/15/style/the-psychology-of-the-cult-experience.html
https://www.insider.com/i-grew-up-in-a-cult-and-i-can-tell-you-why-normal-people-join-them-2018-3
https://bigthink.com/culture-religion/four-cult-recruitment-techniques
https://medium.com/s/how-to-cult/why-do-people-join-cults-ecdf5c6af848
https://theconversation.com/how-cult-leaders-like-charles-manson-exploit-a-basic-psychological-need-57101
Hi Victor,
I really appreciate the sources, thank you! I am hoping to study the a particular situation where cult members were tricked into giving their lives. I hope you learn something in my future posts!
Hi Nikki,
interesting topic! I have attached a useful resource where you will be able to expand more on the impacts it has on others such as the effects of cults on society.
https://www.decision-making-confidence.com/about-cults.html
Characteristics of Cults:
https://doctrinesoffaith.com/cults-characteristics-of-cults/
Hi Lokshana,
Thank you for the sources! I will definitely check the out. Thanks, and good luck on your research!
Thank you! 🙂
Thank you! I will check out those articles
Hello Nikki,
It definitely is weird that people would want to join a cult. I feel like cults and religion got confused somewhere along the way. Cults are such an extreme idea. I think your steps of research are good, but you should add some more sub-questions. Try to think about what else you could include to make your research pop. For example, you could write about the levels of extreme that cults can get into or maybe the thinking of the people joining compared to the leaders.
Here are some hopefully helpful links:
https://www.insider.com/most-infamous-cults-in-history-2018-8
https://www.thrillist.com/culture/the-10-craziest-cults-you-ve-never-heard-of-obscure-religious-sects-and-societies
https://www.biography.com/people/groups/cult-leaders
Good luck!
-Shieva Mokhtarnameh
Hi Nikki,
This is a very interesting topic to me as well, I have always known about cults but never really understood how they manipulate people, I am eager to learn more from your future posts