Major
Psychology
Anticipated Graduation Year
2027
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract
In this research, my evaluation of my evidence led me to claim that the same factors that contribute to poor mental health outcomes in former cult members are present in the Young Earth Creationist(YEC) movement, suggesting that former YEC members may face similar mental health risks. I concluded this claim by evaluating to what extent the YEC movement’s organizational structure compared to that of cults, as defined by social psychologist Alexandra Stein, in order to evaluate if the same structures that led to negative mental health outcomes in cult members existed within the YEC movement. My evaluation led me to the conclusion that the organizational structure of the YEC movement aligned highly with that of a cult in its isolating social system and exclusive ideology. Both of these factors are strong predictors of negative mental health outcomes in ex-cult members, leading me to the conclusion that, as research does not currently exist on the mental health recovery of ex-creationists, the movement’s organizational similarities to those of a cult that predict negative mental health outcomes suggest that ex-YEC members would benefit from the same mental health resources proven to accelerate ex-cult member’s recovery.
Community Partners
LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO
Faculty Mentors & Instructors
Dr. Hans Svebakken, Professor, Theology Department
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
The Dangers of Science Denial: Creationism and Cult Organization
In this research, my evaluation of my evidence led me to claim that the same factors that contribute to poor mental health outcomes in former cult members are present in the Young Earth Creationist(YEC) movement, suggesting that former YEC members may face similar mental health risks. I concluded this claim by evaluating to what extent the YEC movement’s organizational structure compared to that of cults, as defined by social psychologist Alexandra Stein, in order to evaluate if the same structures that led to negative mental health outcomes in cult members existed within the YEC movement. My evaluation led me to the conclusion that the organizational structure of the YEC movement aligned highly with that of a cult in its isolating social system and exclusive ideology. Both of these factors are strong predictors of negative mental health outcomes in ex-cult members, leading me to the conclusion that, as research does not currently exist on the mental health recovery of ex-creationists, the movement’s organizational similarities to those of a cult that predict negative mental health outcomes suggest that ex-YEC members would benefit from the same mental health resources proven to accelerate ex-cult member’s recovery.