Impatient for Paradise: Charisma, Personality and Charismatic New Religious Movements

Charisma only speaks to a wish already potent in a follower; Anyone can be brainwashed by cults. These conflicting views have haunted accounts of who is drawn to New Religious Movements. This work shows that conversion does not arrive completely unexpected in a person's life: recent life struggles and a certain loneliness have usually paved the way for such rites de passage. Personality, beliefs, and seemingly chance encounters with followers will do the rest. A living charismatic leader has unique appeal. S/he embodies a belief system with everyday relevance which transforms the world from being one of cause and effect, to one of demand and response. Here those drawn to charismatic leader-follower relations are those who are untraditional, unconstrained - impatient - who can meld their sense of self with the objects of their perception in an absorptive style. This work develops a spiritual belief scale, profiles followers of three eastern new religious movements, comparing their life placement and personality to those drawn to therapy and to two groups not involved in such activities. The basis of charisma and charismatic appeal is linked to narcissistic wounding in followers.