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Psychologist: frustration, unmet needs and anger prime people to follow cult figures
Summary
Ken Birtness told Think Tank Hawaii that cult leaders typically rise where frustration and unmet needs outweigh positive social goods; followers "latch on" to leaders who listen and promise action, he said.
Ken Birtness, identified on the program as a psychologist and social psychologist, described cults as "a response to problems that we're having." He said negative life factors—frustration, anger and unmet needs—make people more likely to accept leaders who promise solutions even at others27 expense.
"When we're not heard, that hurts a lot," Birtness said, explaining the emotional calculus that can lead people to cede power to a charismatic figure. He added that leaders who centralize power and deliver little of what they promise can still retain followers because they appear to provide action and attention. The segment emphasized the distinction between biological drives and social-psychological conditions that predispose populations to follow such figures.
Birtness recommended focusing on increasing people27s positive social connections and meaningful roles as a way to reduce susceptibility to abusive leadership, rather than attributing followership solely to innate biochemistry.
