The Dark Allure: Why People Join Cults

Have you ever been talked into getting the extra warranty at the car dealership? Have you ever taken a friend’s free kickboxing class then signed up for an 18-month membership during your post-workout high? Have you ever found yourself frantically cleaning chocolate cake off a hotel wall, smashed there by your blackout drunk sorority sister, and asked yourself… how did I get here?
No one joins a cult on purpose, but everyone is vulnerable to being manipulated into joining. Cults know exactly what they are doing, according to psychologist Steve Eichel. In fact, they specifically look for people who are idealistic and optimistic, and a 2017 study of former cult members found that 61% had more than 12 years of education. Cults need members who are passionate - about self-improvement, about the betterment of mankind, about living a more fulfilling life. Isn’t that what we all strive for?
Survivors describe being overwhelmingly welcomed, feeling like they found instant friendship and acceptance. Psychologists call that “love bombing.” Cults make you feel special, and we all suspect, deep inside, that we are more special than our peers.
Deborah Layton, a former member of the People’s Temple and survivor of the Jonestown massacre, explains it’s like an abusive relationship. This sentiment is echoed by many other former cult members. No one goes on a first date and says “hello, I’m an abuser”, because no one would stay. Once members start to question themselves, it becomes a self-reinforcing logic loop. “Only stupid people join cults, and I am not stupid, therefore this can’t be a cult, can it?” People who have been deprogrammed from cults are overwhelmingly intelligent, educated people, and they’ll tell you that the “crazy” things they believed made perfect sense at the time. Cults start off just like groups that we are already familiar and comfortable with.
Between a cult and any other group, the difference is a matter of degree, not a matter of type. Everyone wears the corporate merch at work, or lets someone we love get away with too much, or invests too much into a new hobby that gets completely out of hand. We can all be manipulated, especially when we believe that we can’t.
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