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Chapter 3 - Cults of Personality

from Section 1 - Typology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 June 2025

By
Joseph M. Pierre
Edited by
Tyler Durns ,
Charles Scott ,
Paul Whitehead  and
Barbara E. McDermott
Tyler Durns
Affiliation:
University of Utah
Charles Scott
Affiliation:
University of California, Davis
Paul Whitehead
Affiliation:
University of Utah
Barbara E. McDermott
Affiliation:
University of California, Davis
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Summary

This chapter begins with a critical view of what defines a “cult,” highlighting the subjectivity and often pejorative use of that term. It then reviews the history of the term “cult of personality” while defining it broadly as any cult whose members are held in thrall by an identifiable leader and offering a case example of Sherry Shriner and her “alien reptile cult.” Characteristics of leaders of “personality cults” are then reviewed including charisma, personality traits such as narcissism or psychopathy, and the use of “brainwashing,” “mind control,” or “coercive persuasion” while evidence of psychopathology and personality traits such as the “authoritarian personality” is likewise reviewed for followers. Due to the cross-sectional evidence regarding such characteristics, it remains unclear whether they represent premorbid traits or sequelae of cult involvement. Additionally, it is argued that cult affiliation is more about “match” and “fit” between leaders and followers along with the relevant group dynamics and social conditions that bind them together.

Keywords

cultcult of personalityideologycharismaauthoritarian personalitycoercive persuasionforensic psychiatry

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Type
Chapter
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A Clinical and Forensic Guide to Cults and Persuasive Leadership , pp. 53 - 68
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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