A cult is a social group that is committed to an ideology or leader. Learn more about what a cult is and how to recognize that a group is a cult.
The meaning of CULT is a group (such as an organization or religious sect) with tenets and practices regarded as coercive, insular, or dangerous —often used before another noun.
A cult is usually small group devoted to a person, idea, or philosophy. The term cult is often applied to a religious movement that exists in some degree of tension with the dominant religious or cultural inclination of a society.
No one joins a cult; they are recruited by systematic social influence processes. Destructive individuals and cults use deception and undue influence to make people dependent and obedient.
Some cult members may insist they’re involved of their own free will and are living happy lives, further complicating a consensus. Bear these facts in mind as we delve into the psychology of cults and their members.
As defined here, cults differ from “new religions,” “new political movements,” “innovative psychotherapies,” and other “new” groups in that cults make extensive use of unethically manipulative techniques of persuasion and control to advance the leader’s goals.
WHAT IS A CULT? | Rosanne Henry, LPC, Psychotherapy and Cult Recovery ...
What Is a Cult? The term “cult” refers most often to a group of people with usually atypical beliefs living in relative isolation from the world. They tend to centralize around one charismatic person—the cult leader—who orders the beliefs, behaviors, and customs of all the other members.