Best questions for ex-cult member survey about critical thinking confidence

Here are some of the best questions for an ex-cult member survey about critical thinking confidence, plus tips for designing them effectively. If you want to generate a survey like this in seconds, Specific can help you build it with just a prompt.

Best open-ended questions for ex-cult member survey about critical thinking confidence

Open-ended questions invite nuanced, personal responses. They help us capture the unique journeys and emotions ex-cult members face when rebuilding confidence and critical thinking after leaving a controlling environment. Especially for sensitive topics, these questions allow respondents to share as much—or as little—as they feel comfortable with, without feeling boxed in by narrow options. Here are some strong examples:

1. Can you describe a recent moment where you trusted your own judgment after leaving your former group?

2. What does "critical thinking" mean to you now compared to when you were in the group?

3. How do you approach making decisions today that you once found challenging?

4. In what situations do you still feel uncertain about your thinking or choices?

5. What resources or support have helped you regain confidence in your thinking?

6. How has your sense of self-confidence changed since leaving the group?

7. Are there thought patterns from your group experience that still affect you? How do you notice or address them?

8. Can you recall a time when you recognized manipulation or undue influence in daily life?

9. What kinds of situations tend to trigger doubts in your own reasoning?

10. If you could give advice to someone just leaving a cult about thinking for themselves, what would it be?

Open-ended questions are key for understanding the realities behind the numbers. According to research by Langone, 72% of ex-cultists reported low self-confidence, and 67% had concentration difficulties—open responses show the "how" and "why" behind these statistics, surfacing actionable insights for support programs. [1]

Best single-select multiple-choice questions for ex-cult member survey about critical thinking confidence

We recommend single-select multiple choice questions when you want to quickly quantify experiences or set up a theme for deeper exploration. Sometimes, it’s easier for respondents to pick a succinct answer, which then opens the door to ask follow-ups and go deeper. Here are three examples:

Question: How confident do you feel in your ability to evaluate information critically since leaving your group?

• Very confident

• Somewhat confident

• Not confident

• Not sure

Question: Which area have you struggled with the most since leaving the group?

• Trusting my own judgment

• Spotting manipulation

• Making personal decisions

• Seeking outside opinions

• Other

Question: After leaving, did you receive any guidance or training on critical thinking?

• Yes, formal training

• Yes, informal guidance

• No guidance/training

When to followup with "why?" Followup questions are essential when the respondent's choice hints at something interesting or unclear. For example, if someone selects "Not confident" about evaluating information, we can ask: "Why do you feel this way?" This digs deeper, often surfacing critical experiences or unmet needs.

When and why to add the "Other" choice? Including "Other" lets people surface issues we hadn’t thought of, especially with a population as diverse as ex-cult members. If they select "Other," a follow-up question ("Could you describe this in your own words?") may reveal an unexpected insight, uncovering patterns that improve future support or interventions.

NPS-style question: useful for ex-cult member critical thinking confidence survey?

Net Promoter Score (NPS) questions are a proven way to gauge loyalty or satisfaction. In an ex-cult member context, we can adapt this method to assess how likely respondents are to recommend critical thinking training or peer support to others who’ve left similar groups. It’s a quick pulse-check on trust and perceived value. If you want to try this approach, you can launch an NPS-style survey for ex-cult members using Specific’s survey builder.

The power of follow-up questions

Automated follow-up questions aren’t just a gimmick—they’re how you turn a survey into a rich conversation. With Specific, AI-powered follow-ups are generated in real time, always based on your respondent’s previous answers and context. That means the survey can get full clarity, probe deeper, or gently guide users to share the details that numeric questions alone can’t provide. There’s a reason why our AI followup questions are often described as “like chatting with a thoughtful interviewer.”

• Ex-cult member: I still find it hard to trust my thinking sometimes.

• AI follow-up: Can you share a specific situation where you felt this doubt was most noticeable?

How many followups to ask? In practice, we find that two to three smart follow-up questions after the respondent’s answer yield the richest context, while still respecting their time. With Specific, you control when to move on, so you don’t overwhelm your respondents—you can set the system to stop once you get the detail you’re after.

This makes it a conversational survey: Your feedback process flows like a chat, inviting people to reflect and share, not just check boxes.

AI survey response analysis, qualitative data, analyze open text: Even with all that open-ended text, it’s straightforward to analyze responses using AI. The platform summarizes themes and lets you explore every angle, turning conversation into actionable insights for your program or support network.

These automated AI follow-up questions are genuinely changing how surveys work. Try generating your own and experiencing the difference firsthand. The conversation feels human, not mechanical.

How to prompt ChatGPT (or other GPTs) to generate great questions for your survey

ChatGPT and similar models are powerful for ideating questions. If you want a quick set of questions for an ex-cult member critical thinking confidence survey, try this initial prompt:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for ex-cult member survey about critical thinking confidence.

The more context you give, the better the results. Telling the AI a bit about yourself, your goals, and your audience gives sharper, tailored questions. Here’s what that looks like:

I’m building a survey for ex-cult members. My goal is to help people reflect on and improve their confidence in their own thinking since leaving the group. Please generate 10 open-ended questions that are empathetic and non-judgmental, focusing on experiences with critical thinking, self-confidence, and personal growth.

Once you have a list of questions, try this prompt to organize them:

Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.

When you see the categories, decide which you want to focus on, then ask:

Generate 10 questions for categories Trusting own judgment, Making independent decisions, and Spotting manipulation.

This method gives you targeted, thoughtful questions in minutes, leveraging AI’s strengths and your unique needs.

What is a conversational survey (and how AI survey example stacks up)

A conversational survey flips the traditional, rigid survey on its head. Here’s what makes it different:

• It feels like a chat—not a cold form—so people engage, reflect, and give honest answers.

• The AI agent personalizes its follow-ups, always responding to the specific person, not a generic “bucket.”

• Analysis is effortless—you don’t need to read every word yourself; AI distills key insights for you.

Instead of spending hours clicking through survey makers and manually analyzing data, you can generate a high-quality AI survey with one prompt and let AI handle the heavy lifting, both in crafting the survey and extracting insights afterward.

Why use AI for ex-cult member surveys? Ex-cult members’ stories are layered and complex. Only through contextual follow-up can you capture the full picture—the doubts, the wins, and the subtle progressions in confidence. Modern AI survey examples show it’s possible to reach new depths, fast. You can check out our step-by-step guide on survey creation for this exact audience.

Specific offers the best-in-class experience for conversational surveys, making it easy and engaging for everyone, whether you’re designing questions or responding.

See this critical thinking confidence survey example now

Ready to gather real, actionable feedback from ex-cult members and spark growth in critical thinking confidence? See for yourself how a next-generation conversational survey can deepen understanding and drive support—start exploring with Specific and take the first step toward richer insights.