What is Bounded Choice?

The Concept of Bounded Choice

Dr. Lalich’s original and groundbreaking theory of “bounded choice” was the culmination of her doctoral research, which was a comparative study of two seemingly very different cults: Heaven’s Gate (awaiting pickup by a UFO to their true home, the Level Above Human) and the Democratic Workers Party, a radical leftist cult whose goal was to change this world through social revolution.

The bounded choice framework highlights four interlocking features present in cults: charismatic authority, transcendent belief system, systems of control, and systems of influence. It explains how normal, intelligent people can give up years of their lives – and sometimes their very lives – to exploitative leaders and extreme ideologies that appear bizarre or unrealistic, at best.

Dr. Lalich’s work illuminates how, through abuse of power and well-known indoctrination methods, members are led into a state of “bounded choice,” in which they make seemingly irrational decisions in a context that makes perfect sense to them and is, in fact, consistent with their highest aspirations. Unfortunately, they are succumbing to the illusion of choice.