Psychology of the Extreme

The Psychology of the Extreme is psychology at its best—where it is supremely relevant to everyone’s daily life and grounded in impeccable science yet written in a way that any layperson can understand, relate to, and appreciate. The book shows that extremism is becoming more common as the pressures of everyday life increase, but that extremism can be a virtue (e.g., Gandhi) as well as a vice (e.g., Bin Laden). No one will read this book without their life being touched by it. It is destined quickly to become a psychology classic. The book will help everyone understand the puzzling spread of extremism in today’s world. I recommend the book most highly.

--Robert J. Sternberg, Professor, College of Human Ecology, Cornell University, Honorary Professor of Psychology,University of Heidelberg, Germany

In this book, two of America’s foremost experts on terrorism explain that extremism – and the quest for significance that drives it – can motivate both world-changing scientific discoveries and artistic achievement, but also barbarism, terrorism and war. Extremists’ single-minded commitment to pursuing their goals always comes at a price, whether the objective is national liberation or terrorism. These goals would often be more easily achieved, the authors counsel, through more temperate means. A fascinating, readable study on the roots of extremism, this book is medicine for a polarized age.

--Jessica Stern, Author of Terror in the Name of God, Research Professor at Boston University

Kruglanski & Moskalenko have drawn on their substantial scientific reputation as leading scholars of extremism to deliver a true tour de force – a wide-ranging and highly engaging account of the psychological roots of extremism. Their key premise is that extremists, for good or bad, have a single-minded focus on and unwavering commitment to one dominant need and associated goals and actions, to the exclusion of all other concerns. We can all be prone to this single-mindedness, but in its more extreme form there is a high societal and personal price to such motivational selectivity and imbalance.

--Michael A. Hogg, PhD, FBA, FASSA, Professor of Social Psychology, Director, Social Identity Lab, President-elect, International Society for Self and Identity, Editor-in-Chief, Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, Department of Psychology, Claremont Graduate University

Extremism is one of the most important social phenomena that we face today. In this book, Professors Arie Kruglanski and Sophia Moskalenko present a novel and coherent analysis of the determinants and consequences of extremism. Interestingly, they make the convincing case that extremism has both a downside and an upside and suggest ways to cultivate the latter and prevent the former. This book is a must read! I recommend it for all those interested in finding more about extremism and the crucial role it plays in everyday life.

--Robert J. Vallerand, Ph.D., Author of the award-winning book, The Psychology of Passion: A Dualistic Model, Canada Research Chair on Motivational Processes and Optimal Functioning, Professor of Social Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Former President of the International Positive Psychology Association

From a robust basis of the importance of human goals, this book discusses both the toxic and benevolent aspects of what extremists think, feel, and do. Written in an engaging style, with lots of examples of lives well-known and lesser known, this comprehensive account of one-track-mindedness explains why extremism is both rare and can be tempting to all of us. A very important accomplishment, highly recommended for everyone interested in destructive and constructive forms of human behavior.

--Kees van den Bos, Professor of Social Psychology, Professor of Empirical Legal Science, Utrecht University

We live in an Age of Extremism. To manage, mitigate and redirect extremism, world authorities on the “Psychology of Extremism”, Arie W Kruglanski and Sophia Moskalenko have authored a tour de force. After investigating the common psychology driving extremisms of all types, they develop a protocol for altering destructive extremism and reigning it in. A truly innovative contribution on one of the defining issues of our times.

--Prof. Rohan Gunaratna, Author of the International Bestseller, “Inside Al Qaeda: Global Network of Terrorism”

You might think Osama Bin Laden and Mahatma Gandhi had little common, apart from Asian birth, or Van Gogh and Madame Curie, except for years in France; and even less alike would seem the self-sacrificing abolitionist Harriet Tubman and Julius Caeser, the aggressive subjugator. But the Psychology of the Extreme reveals through a clever and spirited blend of scientific evidence, legends from the past, and personal anecdote that all these people, and others whom history remembers most and who drive much of today’s politics and creative industries, basically possess one-track personalities where “passion or idea fixe dominates the person’s concerns to the exclusion of nearly all else.” Whether a passion is rooted in personal ambition or reverence for humanity, or an idea is devoted to mass murder or novel knowledge, at play is the same psychological dynamic racheting up the Darwinian impulse to thrive. Caution and caveat are cast aside, norms and risks suppressed in a quest for significance: be it for good or ill, for peace or war, in the hunt for fulfillment in science or sport, in art or craft, in love or worship, in internet addiction or fidelity to conspiracy theory -- or in the authors’ own avowedly single-minded chase to understand a world “in overdrive” through academic pursuit of psychology. The book even provides readers a verbal scale to judge any proclivity of their own towards extremism, as well as practical ways to insinuate into extremism salutary moderation and wider regard for others.

--Scott Atran, Emeritus Director of Research in Anthropology at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique in Paris, Research Professor at the University of Michigan, cofounder of ARTIS International and of the Centre for the Resolution of Intractable Conflict at Oxford University.