Almost exactly one year ago, I was accidentally talked into joining a cult for a weekend. The ISA Experience (ISA, 2016) runs under the guise of a weekend-long self-actualisation seminar. In actuality, it is widely considered to be a highly controversial cult that facilitates the scamming & fraud of vulnerable individuals, leaving a lasting and significant negative impact on the mental health of its participants. A scam is defined as a dishonest or fraudulent business practice undertaken with the intention to con an individual out of money, personal details, or valuables (Fischer, Lea, & Evans, 2013). A facilitator of a scam can include a cult, which in this case could be considered a group of individuals who promote excessive faith in a belief …show more content…
Once signed up for the experience, participants are notified that if they feel that they do not benefit from the seminar, a refund is available. However, this offer only stands if the participant does not leave the seminar at any point. This fear tactic correlates directly to Cialdini’s Persuasion technique of scarcity, the idea that people are often more motivated by the fear of loss, than by the thought of gaining something of equal value (Griskevicius et al., 2009). Alongside this, the practices of ISA aligned significantly with the rest of Cialdini’s techniques. Authority was taught to be valued and respected without dispute (questioning any authority would be addressed disparagingly, and individual ‘power’ was expressly requested to be given up individually to the leader from the seminars commencement). Liking was met by promoting a buddy system among participants, not only to minimise effort and interaction required by the facilitator or mentors themselves, but also to instil a false sense of community and support that would aid in the next technique; commitment. Participants displayed commitment, consistency, and a desire to both be and appear consistent and in line with the beliefs and practices of ISA and fellow participants. This form of herd mentality aided also in Cialdini’s social proofing, where participants followed the actions of each other …show more content…
Alongside the general method of recruitment and seminar management shown by ISA, theories such as Cialdini’s Persuasion Technique, the ‘Time Principle’, the theory of personality trait predisposition, self-selection and mental health related vulnerability identification methods, the manipulation of social intelligence and awareness, and scam or social compliance. There are of course limitations across all areas of evaluation due to the unpredictability of individual actions where variation in personality traits or intellectual ability is present. Simply put, there will aways be risk involved in statistically predicting human action and emotional reactions to circumstances presented by a cult or a scam; i.e. outliers - or simple, random individuality. To sum up, my final position on this argument remains that with regard to the many conditioning procedures illustrated, the longevity of it’s operation, and the high number of repeat attendees; The ISA Institute is a highly successful and therefore effective facilitator of many elements of both a scam and a