Doomsday cult

A Doomsday cult is a cult that believes in apocalypticism and millenarianism, including both those that predict disaster and those that attempt to destroy the entire universe.^[1] Sociologist John Lofland coined the term doomsday cult in his 1966 study of a group of members belonging to the Unification Church of the United States: Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization, and Maintenance of Faith. In 1958, Leon Festinger published a study of a group with cataclysmic predictions: When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group that Predicted the Destruction of the World.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Festinger and other researchers have attempted to explain the commitment of members to their doomsday cult after the leader's prophecies have proven false. Festinger attributed this phenomenon to the coping method of dissonance reduction, a form of rationalization.^[2] Members often dedicate themselves with renewed vigor to the group's cause after a failed prophecy, rationalizing with explanations such as a belief that their actions forestalled the disaster or a continued belief in the leader when the date for disaster is postponed.^[2]

Some researchers believe that the use of the term by the government and the news media can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy, in which actions by authorities reinforces the apocalyptic beliefs of the group, which in turn can inspire further controversial actions. Group leaders have themselves objected to comparisons between one group and another, and parallels have been drawn between the concept of a self-fulfilling prophecy and the theory of a deviancy amplification spiral.

^ Jenkins, Phillip (2000). Mystics and Messiahs: Cults and New Religions in American History. Oxford University Press US. pp. 216, 222. ISBN 0195145968.
^ ^a ^b ^c Dawson, Lorne L. (October 1999). "When Prophecy Fails and Faith Persists: A Theoretical Overview" (PDF). Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions. 3 (1). Berkeley: University of California Press: 60–82. doi:10.1525/nr.1999.3.1.60. ISSN 1092-6690. LCCN 98656716. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
^ Spilka, Bernard (2003). The Psychology of Religion: An Empirical Approach. Guilford Press. p. 356. ISBN 1572309016. "The classic study by Festinger and his colleagues was titled When Prophecy Fails."
^ Goodwin, C. James (1998). Research in Psychology: Methods and Design. J. Wiley. p. 376. ISBN 0471199869. "To learn more about this classic study of what happens when prophecy fails..."

[jenkins-1] Jenkins, Phillip (2000). Mystics and Messiahs: Cults and New Religions in American History. Oxford University Press US. pp. 216, 222. ISBN 0195145968.

[NovaReligio_1999-2] Dawson, Lorne L. (October 1999). "When Prophecy Fails and Faith Persists: A Theoretical Overview" (PDF). Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions. 3 (1). Berkeley: University of California Press: 60–82. doi:10.1525/nr.1999.3.1.60. ISSN 1092-6690. LCCN 98656716. Retrieved 20 September 2021.

[3] Spilka, Bernard (2003). The Psychology of Religion: An Empirical Approach. Guilford Press. p. 356. ISBN 1572309016. "The classic study by Festinger and his colleagues was titled When Prophecy Fails."

[4] Goodwin, C. James (1998). Research in Psychology: Methods and Design. J. Wiley. p. 376. ISBN 0471199869. "To learn more about this classic study of what happens when prophecy fails..."

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