Reasons Of Conformity Analysis

The “whys of conformity” demonstrate why the Church of Scientology has been so successful in gaining new members and keeping indoctrinated members. Specifically, they help explain why people are motivated to conform to the church’s ideals. The group locomotive hypothesis, consistency theory, and the hedonistic hypothesis provide reasoning to understand how the church gains and keeps its members. I will examine how each of these theories/hypotheses play a role in “Going Clear”. The group locomotive hypothesis suggests that members of a group conform because they are motivated to achieve the group’s goal. The Church of Scientology uses the allusion of a humanitarian mission to draw in new members and justify harmful actions taken and the members …show more content…
Spanky replied, “I had done so much political social work so this really looked like it was a solution to handling a lot of the world’s problems, instead of handling them in mass you deal with it person by person...and the world would get better”. This testimony exhibits how the church’s claim that Scientology’s mission was to improve the world one person at a time drew in members who were also motivated to achieve this goal. John Travolta, a member of the Church of Scientology was quoted in the video as saying his favorite concept about Scientology was that it strived to have “a world without criminality, a world without war, and a world without insanity”. It is easy to see why those who are members of the church conform while believing that their compliance will help the group achieve these goals because who does not want to help create a world that …show more content…
The hedonistic hypothesis claims that humans conform in order to avoid pain and gain pleasure. The hedonistic hypothesis is evident in “Going Clear”, not just in analyzing why the members of the church conform but also in explaining what motivated former members to leave. The Church of Scientology utilizes its members’ desire to feel accepted and gain approval from their peers in order to keep them active in the church. The mere threat of being rejected by their peers entices member to stay in the church to maintain these relationship that provide them with pleasure and acceptance. In “Going Clear” members of the Sea Org (a special branch of higher ranking members of the church) were thrown in “the hole” and were forced to live in deplorable conditions. Even so, when Miscavige announced they were going to play a game of musical chairs and only the last person remaining would be allowed to retain their membership in the Sea Org, all the abused members then fought each other for the chairs (the ability to stay in the organization). One of the investigators of the church observed, “These people were fighting to stay in the