Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 2 No. 1 1985, Page 67
place to live‖ (25%) ―to provide a finer, purer physical and moral environment‖ (21%) ―to
lessen cultural differences‖ (19%) ―to provide an alternative to employment and dead-end
jobs‖ (19%), and ―to strengthen the American family (13%). Many more respondents
believed cults had negative purposes. The three major purposes perceived by these high
school students were self-serving: ―to recruit new members‖ (75%) ―to make members
totally dependent on the group‖ (70%), and ―to raise money‖ (66%). Other negative goals
attributed to cults were: ―to ensure a source of power for the few in charge‖ (51%) ―to
destroy individual freedom‖ (37%) ―to rule the world‖ (37%), and ―to destroy the American
family‖ (29%). Three percent added on a fill-in open response that ―brainwashing‖ was a
primary purpose of cults.
These negative views are less likely to be the result of personal experience than of mediated
experience derived from the mass media. There is little overall difference in the negative
stereotype of cults held by those who have never had any contact with a cult recruiter and
those who have. When media exposure is analyzed, we find students reporting that the
information they received was disproportionately negative. Radio, TV, newspapers, and
magazines are each perceived by about three-fourths of the respondents as providing
negative information on cults. Only 11% to 14% of the students report getting some
positive information from any of these sources. Incidentally, the entire sample is one that is
highly exposed to media input. Radio is listened to daily by about 91% of the students, and
at least once/twice a week by the rest. Next most exposure is to TV, which is viewed daily
by 67% of the students, and at least once/twice a week by another 33%. Fifty-one percent
report reading a newspaper daily, while another third say they read a paper once/twice a
week. Magazines are read daily by 14% of the sample, and once/twice a week by an
additional 86% of the students.
A smaller number of students reported receiving knowledge about cults from direct
experience. Sixteen said they were currently members of a cult, while 15 more reported
being ex-members. Information on cults was also said to come from ex-cult members (N =
73, 62% of it negative), from cult members (N =104, 61% of it positive), a friend or
relative (N =293, 59% of it negative), a lecture or discussion at school (N =318, 70% of it
negative). Thus from both mediated and direct channels of communication, students get a
largely negative characterization of cults.
Student Predispositons
Assessment of type and extent of religious practices and spiritual/mystical experiences was
determined by a check list that inquired how of ten each of a number of events or activities
had been engaged in by the student. Table 2 summarizes these data on religious practices.

Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 2 No. 1 1985, Page 68
Table 2
Percentage of all respondents who report engaging in each type and extent of religious
practice and spiritual-mystical experience (among those who gave valid answers, N=907)
Regularly Not Regularly Never
Pray 66 33 1
Religious services attended weekly 48 50 2
Read parts of the Bible 45 54 1
Attend religious youth groups 41 58 1
Revelations received personally from God 35 62 3
Felt soaring ―peak experiences‖
(bliss, cosmic consciousness,
transcendence, a sense of
universal oneness) 36 60 4
Meditate 33 65 2
Experienced psychic phenomena, ESP,
telepathy, etc. 37 60 4
Read parts of Koran 4 88 8
Read parts of Bhagavad Gita 7 86 7
It is the rare student who reports never having practiced nor experienced these activities.
The majority of students either engage in them regularly or have done so in the recent past.
While it may not be surprising to note that most pray regularly and many attend religious
services and religious youth groups regularly, it was not expected that so many of these
high school students would report divine revelations, psychic phenomena, peak experiences
and meditation. Comparative data from other geographical regions of the country are
needed to determine if the extent of this religious/spiritual emphasis is a local or widely
shared phenomenon among today‘s youth.
Attitudes Toward Authority and Structure
Many cults are organized as hierarchical power structures headed by a designated authority
figure with a formalized chain of command between the leader and followers. To assess the
extent to which students feel attracted to structured settings and authority, survey
questions asked about their preferences for type of school class, need for knowledgeable
leaders and reliance on the judgments of others.
More than twice as many students preferred structured classes (38%) to unstructured ones
(15%), the rest of the students (47%) preferred some mix of these extremes. An even
greater difference was found between the many who preferred a lecture-type class (48%)
and the few who liked the less organized discussion format (10%) with the remainder
(42%) preferring a combination of the two. The overwhelming majority of these high school
students believed that, ―to know what is going on, it is really necessary to have a leader
who knows.‖ Only 14% disagreed with that point of view, while 41% endorsed the
proposition strongly and another 45% generally agreed with it. A similar finding emerged
when most students supported the idea that, ―it is better to postpone judgment until you
hear from people whose opinion you trust.‖ While 21% disagreed, 24% agreed strongly and
an additional 55% agreed somewhat. Thus, it appears that among this sample of
adolescents there is a marked preference for structured learning settings, a reliance on
knowledgeable leaders over personal discovery of information, and a willingness to
postpone making judgments until trusted others present their opinions.