This is everything we were given...

"Why did they drink the Kool-Aid?"

If you haven't heard about Reverend Jim Jones and his cult of followers in Guyana in the 1970s, let me refresh your memory. Jim Jones was a charismatic young man who started a church in Indianapolis that was based on principles of enlightenment, social harmony, and racial equality. He soon left Indianapolis when investigations into his supposed "healing rituals" caught the eye of investigators. He headed to California, where many of his ardent followers became enamored

with his emerging communist political leanings (drug encouragement helped, too!)

Fearing the FBI and CIA were out to get him, Jones and his "People's Temple" followers fled to Guyana to continue with their very focused, cult-like behaviors. Members sold their property, left family members behind, and cut off all contact. Eventually, word got back to the USA that some followers wanted to leave but were being prevented from doing so. The US sent congressman Leo Ryan to investigate, and he did find such people. On his way to the airport to report back home, Leo Ryan was assassinated by Jones and the People's Temple. Knowing the US would retaliate for Ryan's assassination, Jim Jones decided it was time to take matters into hand in a ritual with his followers, Jim Jones had them drink Kool-Aid laced with cyanide. Men and women, parents and children! 900 followers drank the poisoned Kool-Aid and lost their lives.

Come up with FOUR reasons for WHY they may have drunk it, and then think of a study idea to test one of these. There are two components to this Pause Problem.

First, take a few minutes to think of at least four reasons why people willingly drank the Kool-Aid. You can use any resource you want.

Second, think about one of those reasons and design a basic study that could test that notion (like the inductive research you learned about last semester - reasoning from a specific case like Jim Jones to a more general theoretical approach that can be used to test hypotheses about that

reason).