Julie was 23 years old, from an affluent family, and had completed two years
of college. Friends of Julie say that she had been dating a senior for several
months. Julie was sure they would be married after he graduated, but several
weeks ago they quarreled and broke up. Last weekend, she attended a retreat
sponsored by a religious cult and became a member. She no longer speaks with
her old friends, and she avoids many of what previously had been her favorite
foods and places.

What might account for such a rapid and apparently complete change in
attitudes and behavior? As in the case of Julie, a rapid conversion often follows
an emotionally traumatic event in a person's life, as the past rewards associated
with the person's attitudes and behaviors are suddenly removed or reversed. For
instance, Julie may have enjoyed a particular restaurant with her boyfriend, but
now the restaurant stirs unpleasant memories and shattered expectations. Many
cults carefully foster this feeling of alienation, loneliness, and disorientation by
interrupting sleep frequently, changing eating hours continually, and disallowing
potential converts to see or speak with old acquaintances. These steps effectively
exaggerate the dissociation between a person's attitudes and the rewards with
which they were associated. In addition, steps are taken to introduce and reward
attitudes that are incompatible with the person's former attitudes but consistent
with the ideology of the cult ( Ellul, 1965; Frank, 1961; Hunter, 1951; Oman,
1972; Schien, Schenier, & Barker, 1961).

The conversion techniques of cults provide a dramatic example of persuasion
by learning principles. In this chapter, we will examine a few of the basic notions
of conditioning and their counterparts in attitude theory. It will become apparent
that many of our feelings and reactions to issues, objects, and events in our
everyday lives are based, at least in part, upon previously conditioned responses.
It should also become apparent that the techniques so effectively employed by
cults are widely practiced in society today. Many of these methods are evident,
though to a lesser degree, in advertisements, church sermons and propaganda,
political and social campaigns, classroom discourses, and family interactions.

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