In the 12 fascinating lectures of Warping Reality: Inside the Psychology of Cults, taught by Dr. Wind Goodfriend, you will learn about some of the most widely known cults of modern times. But unlike any standard news reporting or documentary, you’ll explore the psychology of these cults. Along the way, you’ll meet two former cult members who are willing to share their stories. They explain what led them to join these groups, what they had hoped to get from the organization versus the reality, and why they each stayed for over a decade before walking away. Ultimately, this deep dive into cults and the psychology of their leaders can help limit their control over our communities, loved ones, and ourselves.
Warping Reality: Inside the Psychology of Cults
Take a deep dive into the shadowy world of cults and reveal the psychology that creates charismatic leaders and their susceptible targets.
Overview
About
Wind Goodfriend is a Professor of Experimental Psychology and the Assistant Dean for the School of Liberal Arts at Buena Vista University. She has a PhD in Psychological Sciences from Purdue University. At Buena Vista University, she received both the Faculty of the Year Award and the prestigious George Wythe Award for her teaching excellence. She also won the Society for Personality and Social Psychology’s Undergraduate Teaching and Mentoring Award. She has authored, coauthored, or edited more than 100 academic publications and numerous textbooks, and her Great Courses audiobook The Science of Love made Audible’s Best of 2021 list.
Trailer
01: Introduction to Infamy: Famous Cults
Thousands of cults exist in the world right now and they fall into five major categories: religious, political, self-help/pseudo therapy, commercial/business, and cults of personality. Explore seven of the most notorious cults in modern history—from NXIVM, most recently in the news, to the Peoples Temple, which culminated in the murder and suicide of 900 people.
29 min
02: What Defines a Cult: The Eight Deadly Sins
Many scholars believe there is no clean and neat definition of a cult. Instead, you’ll learn why they judge eight specific characteristics of an organization as being on a spectrum of less cultish or more cultish. You’ll also meet two individuals, each of whom was in an organization for 10 years before recognizing it for what it was—a cult—and eventually leaving.
32 min
03: The Destructive Nature of Cults
Continue to explore the eight characteristics of cults and learn why your professor adds one more criterion to that classic list. Explore the importance of describing cults as groups that are at least ultimately destructive—physically harmful or psychologically coercive—whether to their own members or to outsiders.
32 min
04: The Psychology of Cult Leaders
Stereotypes tell us that cult leaders are fanatical, evil, power-hungry, sex-obsessed men. Explore a more nuanced and expanded psychological profile of cult leaders. These are the personality traits or circumstances that contribute to the cult leaders’ rare ability to amass a loyal following and their malevolent mindset.
34 min
05: The Psychology of Cult Members
And what about the characteristics of cult members? Are they a fairly homogenous group? Is there one particular type of person who is most likely to fall prey to the psychological manipulation of a cult leader? As you explore the common traits of cult members, you might be surprised by how many of them are usually considered by society as positive attributes.
31 min
06: Cult Recruitment and Seduction
Learn how cult leaders take advantage of the kindness and sincerity of their recruits by using tactics of manipulation and indoctrination. After promising that the cult will provide seemingly everything the recruits were searching for and welcoming them with effusive “love bombing,” what specific steps do the leaders use to manipulate both their newest and long-term members?
31 min
07: Obedience and Commitment inside Cults
What are the indoctrination strategies that keep people committed to an organization that abuses them, sometimes for years? How can the leaders keep their members once they are on the inside and see the cults’ true behaviors? Explore three of the main techniques used by NXIVM, the Unification Church (“Moonies”), and Heaven’s Gate.
31 min
08: Having Your Sense of Self Stolen
Cult leaders change their members’ identity, loyalty, and behaviors. Explore the four specific tactics cult leaders use to accomplish their goal—to steal each person’s sense of self. You’ll also learn about the social psychology theory called self-discrepancy theory and how it was used in the Heaven’s Gate cult.
31 min
09: Cults as Abusive Love
Could an abusive romantic relationship be thought of as a “cult for two,” with one leader and one member? Explore the specific aspects of power and sexual abuse that are employed by both intimate abusers and cult leaders—in particular, by the leaders of Children of God, NXIVM, and the Branch Davidians.
31 min
10: Escaping a Cult
Cult members do not easily walk away from the cult—even when they decide they want to. Explore the deep-seated fears cult members grapple with when leaving and the psychological processes that most cult members go through. And once they do break free? You might be shocked to hear what surprises them the most.
29 min
11: Aftershocks: Healing and Finding Closure
What is life like for individuals who leave cults and move back into the normal world, possibly reconnecting with their families and living as independent adults? Explore the aftershock model and what it suggests about short- and long-term experiences after cult life. And learn the important differences between post-traumatic stress disorder and post traumatic growth.
30 min
12: Stories of Cult Survivors
Here, you’ll hear again from Alexandra and Tom, two former cult members you met earlier in this course. Learn more about how they became enmeshed in their respective cults; why they each stayed for a decade; and, for each of them, what was the proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back” that pushed them to finally leave.
34 min
