Are QAnon followers the exact same type of people who are apt to become Scientologists? It only appeals to a certain segment of the population? Certain people will never fall for these type of cults?

 "The public takes care of their fear by thinking only crazies and stupid people wind up in cults. I've interviewed over 4000 ex-cult members. There's no one type of person who is vulnerable."

Margaret Singer
— The Philadelphia Inquirer, 1997, as cited in Margaret Thaler Singer, The Lancet, January 31, 2004

Cult experts from Margaret Singer to Robert Jay Lifton to Steve Hassan to Rick Alan Ross to Jon Atack to Alexandra Stein to Daniel Shaw have found that a cult can recruit any type of person.

Often Margaret Singer would have students who had studied several courses on psychology come into her course and ask what types of personality disorders predisposed people to join cults. They believed that the cult members were bipolar or psychopathic or sociopathic or narcissists before joining a cult.

She remarked on how shocked they were to discover that anyone from any background could be lied to by cult recruiters.

You or I MIGHT be aware that Scientology or the Moonies, as examples, are destructive cults that lie to, abuse, and exploit their members but that is no guarantee we will avoid a different group. Many people are aware that Scientology is a cult who are members of other cults.

The cult can be seen as an abusive relationship extended over a group.

What kind of person could be an abused child or partner? Any person. The abusive relationship and the vulnerability to abuse that we all have is the important thing. If the abuser has the traits of A human predator then the vulnerability to abuse is in the human nature of the victim, not some unusual or strange traits in the victim.

You can be aware that your neighbor is in an abusive relationship but deny it in your own home. That is a good way to explain this.