Discover Top Posts Tagged with #influence continuum

so steven hassan is a transphobe and i lowkey hate that he's the one who came up with this so take it with a grain of salt BUT i want to provide an extremely summarized version of the bite model. this model is a way that we can help determine whether a group is a cult. it isnt the only way, and it isnt a perfect way, but its definitely a useful thing to have in your back pocket. these are just some questions to ask yourself for each category- i recommend looking it up to read in more detail if youre interested!

B-Behavior. how much does a group or person try to control regulate your behavior? are certain things outright forbidden? are certain things expected unconditionally?do they use punishment and reward/reinforcement to manipulate your behavior? (ie love bomb when you do what they want and shun when you dont). do any behaviors result in being unreasonably cut off or rejected?

I-Information. how much does a group or person try to control the information you consume/have access to? news/pop culture/general culture/etc. are you expected to always/never use certain information sources? is the person/group's word considered superior to anything you see elsewhere? are you encouraged to learn from many perspectives and sources? are you encouraged to ignore or mistrust certain information sources on impulse?

T-Thoughts. how much does a person/group exercise control (either directly or through yourself via self-policing) over your thoughts? do they encourage or teach thought-stopping habits or techniques, like immediately praying when you feel sad instead of thinking WHY you're sad or how you can fix the problem making you sad. are there certain thoughts or opinions that are expected/forbidden? are doubts and logical deliberation encouraged or squashed?

E-Emotion. how much does a person/group exercise control over your emotions? is there a distinct personality or mood that is expected of you when you are a part of that group? ie mormons always being so polite and mild/kind in public, or westboro baptist being angry and provocative. do they teach methods to control your emotions beyond normal regulation? such as ignoring your anger, mistrusting your sadness, punishing youeself for envy/exhaustion/fear, or attributing your happiness ONLY to a certain person/deity/group/thing. do they manipulate your emotions to reward or punish certain behaviors?

there is an equally useful tool within the bite model (that has been very well explained and explored by owen morgan on youtube, a not-transphobe who i really recommend watching for more info on cults and protecting yourself from them) that is called the "influence continuum" to help determine whether a person/group is a good (constructive) or bad (destructive) influence because a lot of these BITE model elements can be applied in a wide variety of situations, good, bad, and neutral.

here is owen's youtube playlist about cults with a LOT of bite model breakdowns for various groups and some informational stuff as well: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9f9_mZ9Mz8_ZDZ2PljzYSkLMWPnvq3Kz&si=8dfDYfypZ-s_bGo9

i only made this post because its a niche interest of mine and ive been feeling very lonely and vulnerable lately, and there are certain cult tactics i know id be pretty susceptible to in my current mental/emotional state as of late. its always a good idea to educate yourself on these topics! and always remember, cults are not always religious! owen morgan is also one of the few ive seen who categorizes cults in terms of centralized and hierarchical, which i find super helpful. its hard to explain how various cults can ALL be cults when they differ so much in terms of leadership, rules, culture etc. but when you think about it as centralized/decentralized (think jonestown or heavens gate with central leaders and purposes, versus anti-vax with no set leader and a relatively wide variety of acceptable members perspectives) and hierarchical/dispersed (think the structure of authority of governing body↘️elders↘️members that jehovah's witnesses have or the pyramid of MLM's structures, versus qanon or extremist vegans who dont have one specific leader or governing unit but rather a lot of individuals self-policing). owen talks about this in many videos but i dont have a specific link on hand- feel free to add stuff!

#cults #influence continuum #bite model #religion #politics

Influence Continuum

from Dr. Steven Hassan

https://freedomofmind.com/

Three models of how cults control

#Dr. Steven Hassan #influence continuum

Also: Joining and Leaving the Moonies / Unification Church - Cult Expert Dr. Steven Hassan | Ep. 1743

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1v2YHO0iSCg

#Steven Hassan #ex-moonies #influence continuum #Sun Myung Moon #Hak Ja Han #Mormon Stories #ex-mormon #Dr. John Dehlin #Dr. Steven Hassan #Samantha Shelley

The Influence Continuum

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The BITE model developed by Steven Hassan, PhD.

Robert Jay Lifton’s Eight Conditions of Thought Reform

Paul Morantz on Cults, Confession and Mind Control

Sensibly Speaking Podcast: Terror, Love and Brainwashing ft. Alexandra Stein

#influence continuum #BITE model

Steve Hassan interviewed by Chris Shelton

Sensibly Speaking Podcast #77: Dealing with Destructive Cults ft. Steve Hassan

This week I interview Steve Hassan, a cult recovery specialist and licensed mental health counselor who has written on the subject of cults and published three books, including Combatting Cult Mind Control, which is an excellent breakdown of how destructive cults work, what undue influence is, how to recover from a cult experience and what family and friends can do for their loved ones who may be stuck in a cult situation.

Steve's website is here: http://freedomofmind.com

Steve mentions the Influence Continuum. Here's a link to it http://old.freedomofmind.com/Info/BITE/documents/here.pdf