In 1956, N. S. Khrushchev denounced Stalin's cult of personality as a psychosis having little connection to Soviet ideology as a whole. Arguing that the cult ‘took on such monstrous proportions because Stalin himself supported the glorification of his own person, using all available methods,’ Khrushchev illustrated his contention with reference to Stalin's official Short Biography. Few since have questioned this characterisation of the cult, in part because of the difficulty of reconciling the promotion of a tsar-like figure with the egalitarian ideals of Soviet socialism.

Although the cult of personality certainly owed something to Stalin's affinity for self-aggrandisement, modern social science literature suggests that it was designed to perform an entirely different ideological function. Personality cults promoting charismatic leadership are typically found in developing societies where ruling cliques aspire to cultivate a sense of popular legitimacy. Scholars since Max Weber have observed that charismatic leadership plays a particularly crucial role in societies that are either poorly integrated or lack regularised administrative institutions. In such situations, loyalty to an inspiring leader can induce even the most fragmented polities to acknowledge the authority of the central state despite the absence of a greater sense of patriotism, community, or rule of law.