A charismatic leader can give isolated youth the sense of existing through group power.

Evidence

Meanwhile, the family member of one former (now deceased) Islamic extremist described how one charismatic convert to Islam created an “orgiastic” sense of group identity through his speeches and public worship, including periodic exhortations of Allahu Akbar: “They felt like they existed, young people. They had more power, because there was someone who represented them. And so that’s the notion among young people of belonging to a strong group and that group was not a group of criminals or offenders.” — Ryan Andrew Brown, Todd C. Helmus, Rajeev Ramchand, Alina I. Palimaru, Sarah Weilant, Ashley L. Rhoades, and Liisa Hiatt (RAND Corporation), Violent Extremism in America, 376

Categorization

• XREF: The leader-created ‘orgiastic’ group feeling parallels classic collective effervescence and cult-of-personality attachment — suggests deradicalization may hinge on the leader figure, not the ideology. — connects to: Charismatic leaders offer followers collective immortality in troubled times. — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core: On the Role of…, 460; Followers identify with and extend effort for charismatic leaders. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 1866; A group’s shared belief in its own power predicts its persistence and achievements. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 2825 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Charismatic leaders offer followers collective immortality in troubled times. #expands (0.85) — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core, 460
• A group’s shared belief in its own power predicts its persistence and achievements. #expands (0.80) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2825
• Leaders lead by representing a consensus that shared identity makes possible. #expands (0.80) — Stephen Reicher, S. Alexander Haslam, and Nick Hopkins, Social identity and the dynamics of…, 67
• Leadership acts on followers through collective group norms, not just individual exchange #expands (0.78) — Stephen Reicher, S. Alexander Haslam, and Nick Hopkins, Social identity and the dynamics of…, 34
• Leadership is rooted in service, generosity, and being first to give #contradicts (0.78) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 394
• A crowd’s unity arises from the leader’s look that objectifies its members. #complicates (0.77) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1031
• Children imitate the powerful because holding power itself is reinforcing. #expands (0.76) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 1066
• Group members are individually superior but collectively demand a leader. #complicates (0.75) — Georg Simmel, The Sociology of Georg Simmel, 7425
• Followers are swayed most by leaders who embody the group’s valued traits. #qualifies (0.73) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 1762
• Followers identify with and extend effort for charismatic leaders. #qualifies (0.72) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 1866