Scientology’s personality test is a hit on TikTok: Can David Miscavige capitalize on it?

 
Why didn’t Dave think of this earlier? It’s how things work now, and Scientology has finally stumbled on it.

1. Cute girl posts TikTok video about taking the Scientology personality test, making it look intriguing.

2. TikTok video explodes, getting more than 2 million views

3. Scientologist claims the video is having a direct result, with new personality tests being taken online by the hundreds.

 
We don’t know if that claim by Angela Garcia has any validity, but it’s certainly true that a TikTok video about the personality test has blown up. You can see it here…

@jordana1999

it’s so long but worth it tbh #scientology

♬ original sound – christina

 
Looks like fun, right?

Of course, for years and years former Scientologists and others have been warning the public that the “Oxford Capacity Analysis,” Scientology’s “personality test,” has nothing to do with Oxford University, and is rigged simply to convince anyone who takes it that they are in dire need of Scientology’s services.

Former Sea Org officer Chris Shelton has done as much as anyone to warn the public about the personality test and how it’s used by the church. We posted a video he made about it five years ago, and it’s worth watching again.

And Chris was good enough to send us some additional thoughts about the personality test and how it’s used as a lure by Scientology.

For many decades, one of the most successful “cold reading” methods that Scientology has of luring new, unsuspecting people to their buildings is their personality test, officially titled the “Oxford Capacity Analysis” (OCA) even though it has nothing to do with Oxford University or analyzing anyone’s capacity for anything but accepting nonsense. By that I mean that while the subject of personality tests are controversial in social sciences, there is nothing controversial about Scientology’s personality test. It’s pure nonsense from beginning to end.

Consisting of 200 Yes/Maybe/No questions, it usually takes about 30-45 minutes for the average person to fill it in and the results are plotted on what appears to be a scientific-looking graph, complete with shaded regions and dotted lines indicating various levels. On this are listed various personality binaries such as stable/unstable, happy/depressed, aggressive/inhibited, active/inactive, etc. Each score is from 100 at the top to -100 at the bottom.

A “test evaluator” (who has no formal training of any kind in the science or even philosophy of what testing is or how it is standardly done in psychology) sits down and now the “cold reading” begins. Using a pre-printed script which gives harsh assessments of what the person’s test scores reveal, the job of the evaluator is to detect and get the person to discuss personality problems, interpersonal issues or stress the person is experiencing in the here-and-now. Once the person bites on some issue the evaluator suggests, such as suggesting the person is “cold hearted” or “impulsive” or “too withdrawn for their own good,” the evaluator digs in like a fisherman with a biting line and they try to use that hook to get the person to tell more, to elaborate on what it is. Sometimes this happens very quickly and sometimes this takes some digging, but the entire point is not even so much what the person is revealing as the fact that they are opening themselves up, giving private information and thoughts about highly personal issues to a complete stranger. The goal is to find the person’s “ruin”: their own life problem or personal issue that they feel is of such magnitude that they can’t seem to resolve it and it consumes their attention, time and even finances.

By establishing trust and getting the person to open up more and more, the evaluator steers the person and then sinks in when it appears a ‘ruin’ has shown up in the conversation. An example might be a job the person has where they feel stuck, not able to get promoted or get a raise but fearful of quitting for fear of not being able to find a better one. This might be weighing on their mind quite a bit and is stressing them out, but the evaluator will dig deeper and try to find what it is about the person themselves that is making that situation persist. The evaluator will keep probing and hinting and, well, evaluating until their subject “sees the light.” In this case, it might be that the person agrees the reason they are in that job mess is because they have always gone into agreement with people telling them they can’t do things or they can’t make things happen. The evaluator would say something like,”See, that’s just suppression. That’s just people in your life who don’t want to see you get better. That’s no accident. There are people who want to see you fail and if you have them around and you don’t know how to deal with them, they can really make this difficult. They could even arrange to get you fired if you don’t know how to spot them for what they are and how to deal with them.” If by this point the subject is nodding and agreeing, that’s what the evaluator is looking for. He or she will then clinch it by asking something like,”So if this were handled and you no longer had this kind of problem, your life would be significantly better, right? Would you say this is ruining your life?” If the person agrees, that’s it. The evaluation is done but the trip inside the Church of Scientology has just begun.

The point of the test is to get you nodding and agreeing and trusting Scientologists so they can then go in for the close. Most of the time, the evaluator does this but less frequently, they’ll take the “ruined” person to a different sales person to now sell them the Scientology service they now realize they “need” to solve their life “ruin.” And whereas the evaluator might have adopted a less personable and more “this is how it is” kind of attitude, when things shift over to the sales end, that’s when the love bombing begins. Now the subject is met with sympathy, warmth, understanding, a lot of head nodding and listening to what they have to say and they are told in no uncertain terms that they are not just lucky to have arrived in a Scientology organization, but they are actually very smart to have made the decision and it probably wasn’t luck at all, it was more their “inner voice” telling them this was the right thing to do. Usually it’s subtle to start with because at least the veteran Scientology staff have usually learned to do the flattery thing without piling it on too thick. This effort at personal connection is no accident; it’s what helps prevent buyer’s remorse and ensures the person will come back to actually do the service the salesperson inevitably sells the subject.

And that’s how the trip down the Scientology rabbit hole begins….

— Chris Shelton

 
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Leah Remini podcast: Listener Questions 8

Says Mike: “This is a special edition of Listener Questions. Leah and I recorded this when I was in LA recently. As usual, we cover a lot of ground from why any OT would wear glasses and a question about Tom Cruise’s bravery to High Crimes and the traits of an SP and even an answer that shocked Leah about something Hubbard claimed about himself. Hoping to have some video clips of us recording the episode to add to this post and put on social media today or tomorrow.” Listen to the episode right here!

 
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Derek Lambert and Karen de la Carriere

 
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It’s the Bunker’s birthday

 
Nine years ago today, we breathed life into this website. We had already been covering Scientology daily since the middle of 2011, and we are grateful that so many of you decided to join us here at our own place on the Internet.

Thank you for making this place such a great gathering place every day. Your comments keep us going!

 
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Sign up for a daily email when we post a new story on Scientology.

Did you know you can get an email every morning when we post our daily Scientology story? We know some of the folks who come to the Underground Bunker aren’t here to talk about the politics of the day, and that’s why we created a daily politics feature over at our other blog, The Lowdown, and we ask readers to take their political discussions over there. And if you drop us a line at tonyo94 AT gmail, we’ll put you on the list so you get a morning reminder that a new Scientology story has been posted — and only for our Scientology stories.

 
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Source Code

“The faults I find with Scientologists is they very often will see somebody fall on his head, get run over by a truck, and do some kind of a light touch assist and say ‘That’s that.’ And then wonder why the guy is limping. And then they sort of say, ‘Scientology doesn’t work.’ Man, I’ve got a word for you. That auditor is afraid of work. Do you see?” — L. Ron Hubbard, September 28, 1968

 
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Avast, Ye Mateys

“ETHICS: The following are Fair Game for the current week for No Report of their stats. John Wiley, Kristina Brorson, Vicky Alpe, Janice Tidman, Geary Titus, Wayne Alkire, Robert Williamson, Ron Straus, Dekki Le.” — Lt. Jeff Walker, Ship Stats, September 28, 1970

Overheard in the FreeZone

“The sheer quantity of detail used to enslave people is almost incomprehensible. How to make a thetan blind and believe he is an organic oddity took many, many minds and extreme dedication. Making the universe and our immediate environment convincing and pleasurable has been purposefully worked out; it has taken ingenuity, vast effort, and money. That work goes on to this day.”

 
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Past is Prologue

1995: Dave Touretzky posted details on a new lawsuit filed by Steven Fishman and Uwe Geertz against Scientology, charging malicious prosecution. “Dr. Geertz, who was Fishman’s psychiatrist, is represented by Ford Greene, Esq., of the Hub Law Offices, 711 Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, San Anselmo, CA 94960. The amended complaint was filed around September 11, 1995. Fishman does not have a lawyer yet (can’t afford one); he filed notice with the court that he will appear ‘in pro per’ for now. The list of defendants includes: Church of Scientology International; Bowles & Moxon; Cooley, Manion & Moore; Morrison, Cohen, Singer & Weinstein; Timothy Bowles; Kendrick Moxon; Earle Cooley; John Quinn; Jonathan Lubell; Elliot J. Abelson; David Miscavige.”

 
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Random Howdy

“Human rights education brought to you by slave labor and the church of ironictology.”

 
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Next hearing set for November 10. Trial tentatively scheduled for February.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay sentenced to 9 years in prison. Jeff’s sentencing to be scheduled.
— Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Pretrial conference October 7 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next pretrial conference set for November 19.
— Joseph ‘Ben’ Barton, Medicare fraud: Pleaded guilty, awaiting sentencing.

Civil litigation:
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Oral arguments were heard on July 30, 2020 at the Eleventh Circuit
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Petition to US Supreme Court submitted on May 26. Scientology responded on June 25.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: California Supreme Court granted review on May 26 and asked the Second Appellate Division to direct Judge Steven Kleifield to show cause why he granted Scientology’s motion for arbitration. Oral arguments scheduled for Oct 5.
— Matt and Kathy Feschbach tax debt: Eleventh Circuit ruled on Sept 9 that Feshbachs can’t discharge IRS debt in bankruptcy. Dec 17: Feshbachs sign court judgment obliging them to pay entire $3.674 million tax debt, plus interest from Nov 19.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Third amended complaint filed, trial set for June 28, 2022.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: Trial concluded, Cannane victorious, awarded court costs. Case appealed on Dec 23. Appeal hearing held Aug 23-27. Awaiting a ruling.

Concluded litigation:
— Dennis Nobbe, Medicare fraud, PPP loan fraud: Charged July 29. Bond revoked Sep 14. Nobbe dead, Sep 14.
— Jane Doe v. Scientology (in Miami): Jane Doe dismissed the lawsuit on May 15 after the Clearwater Police dropped their criminal investigation of her allegations.

 
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THE PROSECUTION OF DANNY MASTERSON

We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links, including our four days in Los Angeles covering the preliminary hearing and its ruling, which has Danny facing trial and the potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison.

SCIENTOLOGY: FAIR GAME

After the success of their double-Emmy-winning, three-season A&E series ‘Scientology and the Aftermath,’ Leah Remini and Mike Rinder continue the conversation on their podcast, ‘Scientology: Fair Game.’ We’ve created a landing page where you can hear all of the episodes so far.

LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH

An episode-by-episode guide to Leah Remini’s three-season, double-Emmy winning series that changed everything for Scientology watching. Originally aired from 2016 to 2019 on the A&E network, and now on Netflix.

SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

 
Other links: SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks. Scientology’s Ideal Orgs, from one end of the planet to the other. Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society. Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in a weekly series. How many have you read?

 
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THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Hip, hip hooray! Scientology success stories you weren’t meant to see
[TWO years ago] Answering Scientology’s smears with truth: Phil Jones takes a STAND
[THREE years ago] US Government ‘adopts’ Russian Scientologist in religious rights protest
[FOUR years ago] ‘Aftermath’ fan gets into party at Scientology’s ‘Int Base,’ brings Karen Pressley’s book along
[FIVE years ago] DRONE FLYOVER: First images of Scientology’s Gold Rush mine in California
[SIX years ago] If it’s Monday, it must be Seattle: Let’s talk Scientology!
[SEVEN years ago] Celebrating two years in the Bunker: Jonny Jacobsen on Russia, and Sunday Funnies!
[EIGHT years ago] Blood Relation, Blood Ritual: A Hubbard Family Occult Mystery
[NINE years ago] Talking About The Master on Public Radio
[TEN years ago] The Top 25 People Crippling Scientology, No. 1: L. Ron Hubbard

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on September 28, 2021 at 07:00

E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.

Our new book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is now on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. Our book about Paulette, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.

The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2020 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2020), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists | GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice | SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts | Shelly Miscavige, 15 years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.

Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele

 

Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast