Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 2 No. 1 1985, Page 35
to suffer from pervasive lack of self-esteem, self-confidence, and ego strength, with a
significant increase in self -doubt and distrust of self-functioning (AFF Clark,
1979b Galanter, 1983a Goldberg &Goldberg 1982 Langone, 1984, p. 72 Levine,
1979 Schwartz &Kaslow, 1981 Singer, 1979 Spero, 1982 Stoner &Parke, 1977, P.
413).
While this could be seen as a return of a pre-cult lack of self-confidence (e.g., Spero, 1982,
p. 333), more usually it is seen as an artifact of the cult-induced dissociation and
dedifferentiation itself. More specifically, dedifferentiation produced the converse uncritical
passive receptivity to, and/or regressive dependency on, cult authority figures, and
subsequently post-cult authority figures as well (AFF Burtner, 1980 Clark, 1977, 1979b
Goldberg &Goldberg, 1982 Singer, 1979 Spero, 1980, 1982 West &Singer, 1980). Even
more conclusively however, when the pre-cult personality does reemerge during the second
stage of cult recovery, it almost always brings with it an increase in self-confidence and ego
strength (Goldberg &Goldberg, 1982). Exceptions, of course, would have to be made for
cases of serious pre-cult psychopathology.
Ego deficits. While the emergence of schizophrenia or borderline personality tendencies in
some ex-cultists during stage two obviously present ego deficit problems needing
therapeutic attention, during reevaluation and stage one of cult recovery almost all (ex-)
cultists suffer from some ego deficits due to the cult-induced dissociative state of mind:
1. Impaired intellectual functioning --Among the cognitive ego deficits seen in
cultists during reevaluation counseling and the first stage of rehabilitation,
perhaps the most widely noted in the literature is mental confusion. Extensive
reliance on the cult renders the critical thinking of cultists ―polarize&‘ or
―dormant‖ (AFF, pp, 14, 15, 72). Spero (1982) noted the polarization as
―significant constriction in cognitive process with a clearly defined preference for
stereotypy‖ (p. 338). This was one of two general personality patterns seen by
Spero in his testing of cult devotees, the second relating more to affect.
However, both Profiles suffered from ―a weakening of critical judgment and
reasoning faculties,‖ which was not helped by ―mildly to severely dedifferentiated
reality frames.,, Nor does deprogramming alleviate this problem. Singer (1979)
saw ex-cultists suffering from ―a blurring of mental acuity ...with subtle cognitive
inefficiencies and changes‖ (P. 79), while AFF pointed to difficulty thinking
―clearly and in a logical, sequential manner about anything,‖ and to intruding
thoughts from cult experiences and blind spots in memory (P. 21). Others who
have pointed to the universality of this mental confusion In ex-cultists have
been: Blackwell (1980) Clark (1977) Conway and Siegelman (1978) Galper in
Aversa (1976) Goldberg and Goldberg (1982) Langone, 1984 P. 72) MacCollam
(1979) Rothbaum (1980) Schwartz and Kaslow (1981) Schwartz and Zemel
(1980) Singer (1978) West and Singer (1980).
2. Floating -First occurring during initial programming, floating is generally well-
accepted as the ex-cultist‘s experience of slipping back into an altered state of
consciousness, a return to the dissociated state where there are ―associational
disturbances in the flow of consciousness‖ (AFF, p. 22 cf. p. 62 Goldberg &
Goldberg, 1982, p. 168 Schwartz &Kaslow, 1979, p. 23 Singer, 1979, pp.
78-79 West &Singer, 1980, p. 3249). As Spero (1982) has defined it, ―Floating
refers to a disorder in the ego function of the sense of reality, where the subject
experiences something similar to dissociation from self, a foggy feeling, or an
experience of being far away while physically stationary‖ (p. 335). The formula
necessary for floating to occur appears to be the combination of a recent
dissociative state of mind (i.e., having come out of an extremist cult), a low
tolerance for frustration (common in most ex-cultists cf. AFF, p. 19) and/or low
to suffer from pervasive lack of self-esteem, self-confidence, and ego strength, with a
significant increase in self -doubt and distrust of self-functioning (AFF Clark,
1979b Galanter, 1983a Goldberg &Goldberg 1982 Langone, 1984, p. 72 Levine,
1979 Schwartz &Kaslow, 1981 Singer, 1979 Spero, 1982 Stoner &Parke, 1977, P.
413).
While this could be seen as a return of a pre-cult lack of self-confidence (e.g., Spero, 1982,
p. 333), more usually it is seen as an artifact of the cult-induced dissociation and
dedifferentiation itself. More specifically, dedifferentiation produced the converse uncritical
passive receptivity to, and/or regressive dependency on, cult authority figures, and
subsequently post-cult authority figures as well (AFF Burtner, 1980 Clark, 1977, 1979b
Goldberg &Goldberg, 1982 Singer, 1979 Spero, 1980, 1982 West &Singer, 1980). Even
more conclusively however, when the pre-cult personality does reemerge during the second
stage of cult recovery, it almost always brings with it an increase in self-confidence and ego
strength (Goldberg &Goldberg, 1982). Exceptions, of course, would have to be made for
cases of serious pre-cult psychopathology.
Ego deficits. While the emergence of schizophrenia or borderline personality tendencies in
some ex-cultists during stage two obviously present ego deficit problems needing
therapeutic attention, during reevaluation and stage one of cult recovery almost all (ex-)
cultists suffer from some ego deficits due to the cult-induced dissociative state of mind:
1. Impaired intellectual functioning --Among the cognitive ego deficits seen in
cultists during reevaluation counseling and the first stage of rehabilitation,
perhaps the most widely noted in the literature is mental confusion. Extensive
reliance on the cult renders the critical thinking of cultists ―polarize&‘ or
―dormant‖ (AFF, pp, 14, 15, 72). Spero (1982) noted the polarization as
―significant constriction in cognitive process with a clearly defined preference for
stereotypy‖ (p. 338). This was one of two general personality patterns seen by
Spero in his testing of cult devotees, the second relating more to affect.
However, both Profiles suffered from ―a weakening of critical judgment and
reasoning faculties,‖ which was not helped by ―mildly to severely dedifferentiated
reality frames.,, Nor does deprogramming alleviate this problem. Singer (1979)
saw ex-cultists suffering from ―a blurring of mental acuity ...with subtle cognitive
inefficiencies and changes‖ (P. 79), while AFF pointed to difficulty thinking
―clearly and in a logical, sequential manner about anything,‖ and to intruding
thoughts from cult experiences and blind spots in memory (P. 21). Others who
have pointed to the universality of this mental confusion In ex-cultists have
been: Blackwell (1980) Clark (1977) Conway and Siegelman (1978) Galper in
Aversa (1976) Goldberg and Goldberg (1982) Langone, 1984 P. 72) MacCollam
(1979) Rothbaum (1980) Schwartz and Kaslow (1981) Schwartz and Zemel
(1980) Singer (1978) West and Singer (1980).
2. Floating -First occurring during initial programming, floating is generally well-
accepted as the ex-cultist‘s experience of slipping back into an altered state of
consciousness, a return to the dissociated state where there are ―associational
disturbances in the flow of consciousness‖ (AFF, p. 22 cf. p. 62 Goldberg &
Goldberg, 1982, p. 168 Schwartz &Kaslow, 1979, p. 23 Singer, 1979, pp.
78-79 West &Singer, 1980, p. 3249). As Spero (1982) has defined it, ―Floating
refers to a disorder in the ego function of the sense of reality, where the subject
experiences something similar to dissociation from self, a foggy feeling, or an
experience of being far away while physically stationary‖ (p. 335). The formula
necessary for floating to occur appears to be the combination of a recent
dissociative state of mind (i.e., having come out of an extremist cult), a low
tolerance for frustration (common in most ex-cultists cf. AFF, p. 19) and/or low
