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| Spiritual Lights 2024 by Geoffrey W. Sutton & Designer |
In psychology, cult is an old and somewhat vague term that was used to describe a religious group having several of the following characteristics:
High cohesiveness
An influential and authoritarian
leader
A highly organized authoritarian
structure
A high demand for group loyalty supported by coercive social power
such as peer group pressure
A set of features not commonly found in established
religious groups:
Beliefs such as unique interpretations of, or based
upon, an existing religious text
Values that may be unique or
rare compared to other groups
Practices or rituals that may
be unique or rare compared to other groups
Unique documents such as a new religious text
Secretive practices or
meeting places
Hostility toward particular
outgroups
An example
of an analysis of religious groups and cults can be found in Galanter (2013).
Cult Conversion
Castaño et al. (2022) referred to cults as groups of
psychological abuse (GPA) in their study of warning signs related to cult
conversion based on the views of people related to group members. In their
summary, they reported the following:
Analyses revealed that warning
signs, vulnerability factors, and motivational elements were key drivers for
understanding the process of cult recruitment and participation. Moreover,
results indicated that cult conversion of an individual has measurable mental
health and well-being consequences for their relatives, as family members are
often left legally helpless and without access to specialized psychological
support.
ALTERNATIVE TERMS
New
Religious Movements (NRMs)
Psychologists
and sociologists prefer the term, New Religious Movement (NRM) to
identify groups having many of the characteristics and features mentioned above.
In psychology, NRMs are an area of study within the Psychology of Religion,
which is a subfield of Social Psychology. NRMs do not necessarily produce
harmful effects. See Woody (2009) regarding the term cult and teaching
about religion and spirituality.
Abusive
Groups
Abusive
groups is a
useful term that includes both NRMs and nonreligious groups linked to harmful
effects on their members. The types of harm are generally considered by
assessing the wellbeing of group members in the group or after they have left
the group. Abusive groups may have many of the characteristics and features previously
used to describe a religious cult as described above. For an example of the
harmful effects on people who former members of a group, see Antelo et al.
(2021).
Violent
Groups
Violent
groups is a useful
term that includes NRMs and nonreligious groups that perpetrate harm on members
of other groups or society in general. Violent groups may include the features
of abusive groups thus the harm is directed outward toward nonmembers as well
as inward toward group members. For examples of research articles, see Gomez et
al. (2020) and Gøtzsche-Astrup et al. (2020).
Sects
versus Cults
A sect
may have some features of a cult but there is an identification with a more
established religious tradition. For example, sects may share some common
beliefs, practices, or values in addition to their distinctive features.
Expanded
use of the term cult
In the
general culture, the term cult has been used to describe a variety of nonreligious
groups that have many of the features of a religious cult mentioned above. For
example, the groups may be primarily political, health focused, or
philosophical.
Why Many
Scientists Prefer Other Terms
1. The term
cult is often used as a label to refer to groups and the people in the groups
(cultists) in a negative or pejorative way. Currently, the term cult and
related terms like cult leader and cultic practices are used to
insult people who are strongly committed to a minority religious, quasi-religious,
or other distinctive group.
2.
Scientists note that some established religious groups were once considered
cults. If you think about some of the newer, or even some older religious
groups, you may find that several of the characteristics of a cult could apply
to group members who are highly devoted to their group and believe their group
offers the true path to salvation or a better nation.
3. Experts
disagree on which groups should be identified as a cult, a sect, or even
another religion.
4. Social
concerns appear to focus on the harm done to group members or society, which
requires adding adjectives like positive cults, negative cults,
or benign cults, destructive cults.
References
Antelo, E., Saldaña, O., & Rodríguez-Carballeira, Á.
(2021). The impact of group psychological abuse on distress: the mediating role
of social functioning and resilience. European journal of
psychotraumatology, 12(1), 1954776. https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2021.1954776
Castaño, Á., Bélanger, J. J., & Moyano, M. (2022). Cult
conversion from the perspective of families: Implications for prevention and
psychological intervention. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 14(1),
148–160. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000410
Gøtzsche-Astrup,
O., van den Bos, K., & Hogg, M. A. (2020). Radicalization and violent
extremism: Perspectives from research on group processes and intergroup
relations. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 23(8), 1127-1136.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430220970319
Olson, P.
J. (2006). The Public Perception of "Cults" and "New Religious
Movements." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 45(1),
97–106. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2006.00008.x
Woody, W. D. (2009). Use of cult in the teaching
of psychology of religion and spirituality. Psychology of Religion and
Spirituality, 1(4), 218–232. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016730
Geoffrey W. Sutton, PhD is Emeritus Professor of Psychology. He retired from a clinical practice and was credentialed in clinical neuropsychology and psychopharmacology. His website is www.suttong.com
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