Attitudes toward Joining Authoritarian Organizations and Sectarian Churches

Individuals affected by a rapidly changing or disorganized society are constrained to adapt in some manner. Two modes of adaptation are indicated by tendencies toward joining authoritarian organizations and sectarian churches. The first is an attempt to regain and preserve an interaction pattern perceived as threatened; the second represents retreat from a society which is perceived to be disorderly and threatening. If alienation is on the rise, the importance of such groups in complex societies may increase. Data presented in this paper indicate that powerlessness and authoritarianism are related to tendencies toward joining both authoritarian organizations and sectarian churches. Anomia is positively related with attitude toward sectarian churches, but negatively related with attitude toward authoritarian organizations. The findings contribute to knowledge of the motivation toward joining these kinds of organizations and also support the notion that alienation is a multidimensional phenomenon.