Ooh this quiz is so badly set up. And this is actually rather dangerous, and something we should be aware of in life. Let me explain.
I got "low risk" myself, but then, for science, I went back and did the entire quiz just answering the last option for each question. If you do that, the result you get is "You'd never join a cult."
This is exactly wrong, though.
The last option is, in most cases, the one that's most rebellious/suspicious/individualistic. It's also very clearly the option that would most likely be chosen by people who pride themselves on their critical thinking skills, their intelligence, their refusal to be a "sheep", their "stick it to The Man" attitude... their uniqueness... their specialness... do you see where I'm going with this?
This type of person can actually be extremely susceptible to cults, if they're approached right. You just have to appeal to their image of themselves as a savvy free-thinker. Butter them up with sycophantic shit like "I noticed you're the only person here who's not [doing some stupid group activity]. I can relate. Not very intellectually stimulating, is it? You know, I yearn for the historical concept of the 'salon', when the greatest thinkers would get together and philosophize about the big issues of the age. People nowadays seem so uninterested in using their brains and thinking for themselves, don't you agree? I sometimes feel I was meant for a different era. People like us [a talented social engineer will stick in the 'people like us' thing right about now in their pitch] are few and far between, it seems. Look at them all, a bunch of sheep just following the group, doing whatever the others do, mindlessly consuming whatever pablum they're fed, believing any bullshit they're told. It's so hard to find someone who can still think for themselves... but you're that type, aren't you? Yes, I could tell from across the room. I have a very refined sense for people, and I suspect you do too. You're sharp. You can always tell when you're being led by the nose, can't you? Mmm, thought so. I'm the same way. It's depressing to see how many people stumble through life with their eyes closed - or when they do open them, it's only to perform some grotesque 'monkey see, monkey do' dance. I could tell, when I saw you standing alone over here, that you're above all that. You're not like them."
Etc., etc. Obviously I'm laying it on really thick in this example above - a skilled cult recruiter won't be that nauseatingly explicit, but will instead slowly, incrementally feed the "intellectual loner" the exact things they secretly want to hear: you're unique, you're special, you're a free thinker and a rebel and a non-conformist, you're better than all those "sheeple"...
... and wouldn't you love to join a small group for discriminating souls just like yourself? To finally find "your people" and commiserate with them about how foolish and mindless most folks are? It might be spun as a group for smart people or those of high IQ; it might be spun as a group for rebels and non-conformists; it might be spun in all sorts of ways. But the point is, it appeals to exactly those traits that you thought made you LESS susceptible to cults. It appeals to your pride; to your identity as someone who's clever and not easily fooled; to your feeling that you're on the outside of society looking in and only you can see how all the gears and pulleys work.
If you're attached to this self-image as a maverick, you are ABSOLUTELY at risk of being targeted by a cult. And the fact that this quiz implies the exact opposite is so shady that I might almost suspect it itself of being a cult recruiting tool. (I'm joking.) (...I think.)
