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.
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