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...required to do so, is likely to be regarded by outsiders as a fanatic. Some students of social movements, particularly those whose analysis has a psychoanalytic orientation, have suggested that the fanaticism of dedicated members results from individual psychopathological states. An alternative explanation is that the social movement becomes a reference group that provides the member with a new...
in social movement: The consequences of social movements )It has been suggested that the committed participant in a social movement undergoes a psychological reorganization. It is clear that his new sense of security and importance is acquired at the sacrifice of autonomy. As a loyal member he tends to let the leaders do his thinking for him, suppressing doubts as to the validity of the ideology and the wisdom of the leader’s decision. He repeats...
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