Affiliation:
1. The University of Oklahoma, Norman, USA
Abstract
The term cult has been variously applied to contemporary groups and organizations, marking them as unusual or frightening. Scholarly literature has yet to settle on a concrete conceptualization of cults and reveals little about the communicative processes by which the stigmatizing name becomes attached to certain groups. This study utilizes a constant comparison method to assess qualities associated with groups regularly labeled as cults in the popular press. Results establish a typology of qualities associated with a “cult genre” of speech and illuminate the role of popular narrative in socially constructing stigma.