Normative Social Influence In Cults

Words: 643
Pages: 3

Cults use many techniques in order to keep their their members in the cult. One way to get the members more involved is normative social influence. Normative social influence is the influence of other people that leads us to conform in order to be liked and accepted by them. Another technique cults use is informational social influence, which is when people assume the actions of others in an attempt to reflect correct behavior for a given situation. One final example of a technique is entrapment. Entrapment is when individuals escalate their commitment to a previously chosen, though failing, course of action in order to justify or make good on a prior investment. A cult uses normative social influence and informational social influence to gain members, and once the members commit to the group, the members use entrapment to keep their members in the cult. …show more content…
During the rise of Peoples Temple, there were a lot of racist crimes in the United States. Jim Jones made his members of Peoples Temple believe they were going to a paradise where everyone is accepted. Marshall Applewhite made his followers believe that the Earth will be “recycled” but only a few people will be chosen to advance to a transhuman state and the rest of the Earth will be left in a spiritually poisoned atmosphere of a corrupt world. Jim Jones and Marshall Applewhite were able to convince their followers to join their cult by making them want to be accepted by the group and realise that their cult is the best place to