SELF-PERCEPTION THEORY

On July in Penza, Russia, a new doomsday cult was discovered. The Penza region has previously had doomsday claiming sects. One cult that began on November 2007 actually went underground, with its 35 members, claiming that it would not emerge until the world has ended. Its leader was Pyotr Kuznetsov, who told the members that they would be given the power to judge over the fate of men. If anyone forced them to come to the surface, they would commit mass suicide. While the cult was underground, two of its members died, one from malnutrition from fasting and another from cancer.

There have been many theories concerning dissonance and self-perception. The latest theory combines the two theories of dissonance and self-perception together. Called self-perception theory, it states that people are not good at introspection; that people do not know their attitude all the time. It also describes that behavior leads to attitude and that people do not have a drive for consistency. Basically, if a person does not feel that he had a good enough reason to perform a behavior that is inconsistent with his attitude, then he actually comes to believe that he wanted to perform the behavior and that it was worth it.

In the case of the cult, although two of its members died, it still strongly believed in its cause. It also did not blame Kuznetsov for the two deaths. Self-perception theory explains that when people put in their time and effort into something, they are more likely to prefer it and be driven to continuously support it despite any negative occurrences. Without the self-perception theory, things such as cults would not be explained; their members would be considered insane for following orders that are harmful to them.

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