Bounded ChoiceTrue Believers and Charismatic Cults

True Believers and Charismatic Cults

Bibliographic Data

ID19985326
AuthorsJanja Lalich (University of California System, corresponding author), Janja A Lalich
Year2004
Pages353
Publication date2004-09-15
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
VenueBounded Choice (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherUniversity of California Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1525/california/9780520231948.001.0001
OpenAlexW2020858275
Open LibraryOL7711336M
ISBN9780520231948
LanguageEN
Citations received34

Heaven's Gate, a secretive group of celibate "monks" awaiting pickup by a UFO, captured intense public attention in 1997 when its members committed collective suicide. As a way of understanding such perplexing events, many have seen those who join cults as needy, lost souls, unable to think for themselves. This book, which looks at the cult phenomenon, dispels such simple formulations by explaining how normal, intelligent people can give up years of their lives—and sometimes their very lives—to groups and beliefs that appear bizarre and irrational. Looking closely at Heaven's Gate and at the Democratic Workers Party, a radical political group of the 1970s and 1980s, the author gives an insider's look at these two cults and advances a new theoretical framework of those who join such groups. She includes in-depth interviews with cult devotees as well as reflections gained from her own experience as a high-ranking member of the Democratic Workers Party. Incorporating classical sociological concepts such as "charisma" and "commitment" with more recent work on the social psychology of influence and control, the author develops a new approach for understanding how charismatic cult leaders are able to dominate their devotees. She shows how members are led into a state of "bounded choice," in which they make seemingly irrational decisions within a context that makes perfect sense to them and is, in fact, consistent with their highest aspirations. The book also addresses the mentality of those true believers who take extreme or violent measures in the name of a cause

Aesthetics · Art · Charisma · Context (archaeology) · Cult · Democracy · Heaven · Literature · Political science · Politics · Sociology · History · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology · Social Psychology · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence · Anthropology · Anthropology, cultural · Archaeology · Brainwashing · Contemporary non-Christian cults & sects · Cults · Customs & Traditions · Democratic Workers Party (San · Democratic Workers Party (San Francisco, Calif.) · Heaven's Gate (Organization) · Organization · Political parties · Social Science · Sociology - General · united states

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