Analysis of Cult Recruitment Techniques (Essay)

Scully

PDF Essay on Cult Recruitment Techniques on the WWW (JWs receive mention)

The essay is written from the point of view of Social Psychology research, and looks at various methods and known Social Influence principles used by "New Religious Movements" (or NRMs) in recruitment practices.

Four basic principles of social influence that are described in this essay include:

Liking: If the subject "likes" the people who are presenting the information to them, they are more apt to be influenced toward accepting the group the recruiters represent. Smiling faces (that Kingdom Smile™), the attractive pictures of people in the Publications™, a friendly demeanour, and comfortable atmosphere (what could be more comfortable than having a Bible Study™ brought to you in the comfort of your own living room?) improve the "Liking" quotient in favor of the JWs.

Reciprocity: This means the subject feels obligated to give something in return for what they are receiving from the recruiter. The recruiter offers a Free™ Home Bible Study™ and offers the Literature™ on a Voluntary Donation™ basis. The subject gives them money, time, and allows themselves to be drawn in and forms a friendship and loyalty to the recruiter.

Authority: The recruiter (and the Organization™ they represent) are viewed as authority figures. They have an understanding of the Bible that the subject does not have. They appear to be extremely confident in their world view. This leaves the subject in a position of feeling that they don't have the right to challenge the Authority Figure(s) regarding what is being taught, even if it is logically unsound or downright ludicrous.

Scarcity: The recruiter plays on the fears and anxieties of the subject by claiming to have knowledge that the subject wants and needs. They know what will happen in the future. They can offer peace of mind and hope to someone experiencing difficulties in relationships, financial hardship, matters of health, family life and so on. They offer an understanding of the world, why things are the way they are, why God permits suffering and injustice.

I found the essay to be an interesting read, and thought I'd share. The essay makes it clear that JWs are not unique in their recruitment techniques, and that the recruitment techniques are standard social influence and social persuasion methods that are recognized by the scientific community.

jwfacts

I am in sales and the techniques are well worn sales techniques.

Liking. This the number one aspect to being sucessful at sales; people don't buy product, they buy from people.

Reciprocity There is no such thing as a 'free' lunch

Authority The sales person needs to sound like they are specialists

Scarcity Fear is the big motivator in sales, without this product will your competitor do better than you, without it will you be sued , without it will you die at Armageddon.

I gave this as a number 4 talk once at the Kingdom hall once, though with a positive spin, but still managed to offend a few brothers who did not like being compared with sales people.

anewme

Very good Scully.

Yes, it is a big eye opener to realize that the indoctrination techniques used by the WTS are nothing new. What works on human beings has been working for thousands of years.

Think of all the tricks of "confindence men" and charlatans and charisma people and recruiters....absolutely nothing new. The only thing new are the new suckers, born everyday.

drew sagan

Thanks alot for this!

Check_Your_Premises

A really good book outlines how these principles are applied by compliance professionals; Influence: The Principles of Persuasion, by Robert Cialdini.

Excellent book!

In addition to these there are the principles of consistency and social proof.

Consistency is the idea that when a person does or says something, they have a natural tendency to have all future behaviour be consistent with the original act. The effects of consistency are greatly enhanced if the original act is really difficult or painful. Think of the gambler who loses a lot of money, and then goes on to lose his whole paycheck trying to get it back. The effects are also greatly enhanced if they are public, since we have a need to be seen as credible and consistent by others. Both of these aspects of consistency are employed in particular in field service, public talks, and commenting.

Social proof is the fact that we look to those around us to validate and verify our sense of reality. This is why the JW put so much emphasis on being at all the meetings, and avoiding "bad associations". I theorize that the main motivation for trying to ban all holidays is to keep jw's from spending any time with non-jw relatives.

CYP

the dreamer dreaming

Eric Hoffer - The True Believer.

great book on the subject

Bangalore

Great stuff.

Bangalore

Murray Smith

Still fresh in my mind are the recent threads on vulnerability . . . when you add the two together it's a full house!

Thanks for re-posting Bangalore . . . it is good stuff

Mad Sweeney

"Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion" by Robert Cialdini is a great book on this subject. A lot of libraries and bookstores should have it. There is also a pdf floating around the 'Net. Or there's Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Robert-Cialdini/dp/0688128165

PublishingCult

jwfacts: I am in sales and the techniques are well worn sales techniques.

I, too was in direct sales. Not an order-taker, but the real kind; cold calls, sales presentations, the whole bit. While going through sales training I could not help but see a relationship with the “teaching” techniques I had learned with my lifelong attendance and participation in the TheocraticMinistrySchool. And that is exactly what the TMS is; a sales training class in which JW’s learn and practice techniques for peddling WTBTS publications. Sales training in the secular world helped to open my eyes to what I was actually participating in as a JW.

Analysis of Cult Recruitment Techniques (Essay)

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