Cognitive Consistency & The Cult Mentality


Quote from "Basic Psychology", Henry Gleitman, Norton 1983

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"Cognitive Consistency"

... people try to make sense of the world they encounter. But how? In 
effect,they do this by looking for some consistency among their own 
experiences and memories, and turning to other people for comparison and 
confirmation. If all checks out, then all well and good. But what if 
there is some inconsistency? The Asch study (Solomon Asch, 1956) showed 
what happened when there is a serious inconsistency between one's own 
experiences (and the beliefs based on them) and those reported by others. 
But suppose the inconsistency is among the person`s own experiences, 
beliefs or actions? Many social psychologists believe that this will 
trigger some general trend to restore cognitive consistency - to 
reinterpret the situation so as to minimize whatever inconsistency may be 
there. According to Leon Festinger, this is because any perceived 
inconsistency among various aspects of knowledge, feelings and behavior 
sets up an unpleasant internal state - cognitive dissonance - which 
people try to reduce whenever possible (Festinger, 1957). 

Cognitive dissonance is not always reduced so easily. An example is 
provided by a study of a sect that was awaiting the end of the world. The 
founder of the sect announced that she had received a messsage from the 
"Guardians" of outer space. On a certain day, there would be an enormous 
flood. Only the true believers were to be saved and would be picked up at
midnight of the appointed day in flying saucers. (Technology has advanced 
considerably since the days of Noah`s Ark.) On doomsday, the members of 
the sect huddled together, awaiting the predicted cataclysm. The arrival 
time of the flying saucers came and went; tension mounted as the hours 
went by. Finally, the leader of the sect received another  message: To 
reward the faith of the faithful, the world was saved. Joy broke out and 
the believers became more faithful than ever (Festinger, Riecken and 
Schachter, 1956).

Given the failure of a clear-cut prophecy, one might have expected the 
very opposite. A disconfirmation of a predicted event should presumably 
lead one to abandon the beliefs that produced the prediction. Bu 
cognitive dissonance theory says otherwise. By abandoning the beliefs 
that there are Guadians, the person who had once held theis belief would 
have to accept a painful dissonance between her present skepticism and 
her past beliefs and
actions. Her prior faith would now appear extemely foolish. Some members 
of the sect had gone to such lengths as giving up their jobs or spending 
their savings; such acts would lose all meaning in retrospect without the 
belief in the Guardians. Under the new circumstances, the dissonance was 
intolerable. It was reduced by a belief in the new message which 
bolstered the original belief. Since other members of the sect stood fast 
along with them, their conviction was stengthened all the more. They 
could now think of themselves, not as fools, but as loyal, steadfast 
members of a courageous little band whose faith had save the earth.

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file: /pub/resources/text/apl/jw: cogdiss.txt

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