Toxic Cult

Most people who are in a cult don’t realize that they’re in a cult, or think they are smart enough to avoid it. The problem is that cults are extremely difficult to identify. Experts say there exist thousands of cults. In fact, if you’re unaware of manipulative behavior of some people out there, you may fail to see this or even reject this part of reality.

Unlike physical cults in the past, we deal with a new type of cults now: IT cults. This is truly a new and uncharted territory for all people who’d like to discover and study cult psychology in IT.

Here are some major signs and characteristics to look for when identifying a toxic cult, also known as abusive cult or destructive cult, adapted to IT field. Note that not all signs need to be met in order to classify a group as a cult, it’s rather a gradient.

It’s also worth noting that deception lies at the core of mind-manipulating groups, and not all actions of such groups may be conscious. Due to this, some signs may not be immediately identifiable on the surface. In fact, this is mostly an unconscious process, but leaders of such groups are motivated by usual things like fame, money, power etc. In other words, if a group declares a particular set of principles, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they adhere to such principles factually. For example, leaders declare that all major decisions can be freely objected at any time, while in fact objections are ignored, rejected, or even punished.

Characteristics

Depending on your involvement with a cultic group, characteristics and signs can be noticed at different stages.

When you first stumble upon a group

What is noticable immediately on the surface.

  • Existence of charismatic leader(s).

  • Group is extremely welcoming and friendly to newcomers, even too caring: love bombing.

  • Group is preoccupied recruiting new members via promotion and fixate on fund-raising.

  • Group usually presents itself as innovative and exclusive, even elitist.

  • Group offers something for free.

When you start to participate in a group

Once you get to interact and experience group activities yourself.

  • Group has double standards and hypocritical behavior:

    • Mismatch of words vs actions.
    • Existence of contradictions which are ignored or rejected.
    • False claims and promises, goals are presented as features.

  • Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished:

    • Behavior which suppresses doubts about the group and their leaders.
    • Critical thinking is discouraged, criticism is frowned upon, even blocked.
    • Stopping negative feedback and allowing only positive feedback.
    • Questions are not answered or turned back to the questioner.

  • Group has elaborate rules, even redundant:

    • Leaders are sole interpreters of the policy, which may change frequently and whimsically.
    • Reports of deviant conduct to leaders is highly encouraged and rewarded.
    • Different rules for leadership and membership.

  • Group has hybrid characteristics:

    • Example: leaders are involved both in non-profit and for-profit organizations promoting the same cause.

  • Group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality.

  • Members feel obligated to give back and constantly recommend joining their community.

  • Existence of former members that give their testimonies of being in a cult.

When you become a member of a group

Once you get privileges (formal) or once you get recognized by members and leaders (informal).

  • Members devote inordinate amounts of time to the group.

    • Members end up restricting leisure, entertainment, vacation time.

  • Leaders restricts what members should say, think, feel, and how to act:

    • Leaders induces guilt feelings in members in order to control their behavior.
    • Leaders ask members to discuss things in private before discussing things in public.
    • Members feel a need to ask for explicit permission to act.
    • Members may be accused of quoting leaders out of context, even if context is irrelevant.

  • Group structure is hierarchical and authoritarian.

    • Elections and voting are rare or non-existent.
    • Discourages individualism, encourages group-think.
    • Leaders indirectly or directly suggest to members that the ends justify the means.
    • Relaxed rules for newcomers, more demanding rules for committed members.
    • To break a rule leads to expulsion from the group, even without a right to object.

  • Difficulty of leaving a group:

    • A fear of missing out.
    • Feeling obligated to stay in.

  • Causes harm to its members, mostly emotional and mental:

    • Extremes of emotional highs and lows.
    • Feelings of tiredness, disappointment, betrayal of trust.
    • Members and outsiders who expose cultic groups to the public may be:
      • Shunned and become enemies or objects of pity.
      • Labeled as a conspiracy theorist or mentally insane.
      • Example: may take a form of insinuations, like “you need professional help”.

References