Eric Hoffer and
Arthur Schlesinger Jr. were two political writers during the mid-20th century who gave what they purported to be accounts of "political extremism". Hoffer wrote
The True Believer and
The Passionate State of Mind about the psychology and sociology of those who join "fanatical" mass movements. Schlesinger wrote
The Vital Center, championing a supposed
"center" of politics within which "mainstream" political discourse takes place, and underscoring the alleged need for societies to draw definite lines regarding what falls outside of this acceptability.
Seymour Martin Lipset argued that besides the extremism of the left and right there is also an
extremism of the center, and that it actually formed the base of
fascism.
Laird Wilcox identifies 21 alleged traits of a "political extremist", ranging from "a tendency to
character assassination" and
hateful behavior like "name calling and
labelling", to general character traits like "a tendency to view opponents and critics as essentially evil", "a tendency to substitute
intimidation for argument" or "
groupthink". "Extremism" is not a standalone characteristic. The attitude or behavior of an "extremist" may be represented as part of a spectrum, which ranges from mild interest through "obsession" to "fanaticism" and "extremism". The alleged similarity between the "extreme left" and "extreme right", or perhaps between opposing religious zealots, may mean only that all these are "unacceptable" from the standpoint of the mainstream or majority. Economist Ronald Wintrobe argues that many extremist movements, even though having completely different ideologies, share a common set of characteristics. As an example, he lists the following common characteristics between "Jewish fundamentalists" and "the extremists of Hamas":
Psychological Among the explanations for extremism is one that views it as a plague.
Arno Gruen said, "The lack of identity associated with extremists is the result of self-destructive self-hatred that leads to feelings of revenge toward life itself, and a compulsion to kill one's own humanness." In this context, extremism is seen as not a tactic, nor an ideology, but as a pathological illness which feeds on the destruction of life.
Dr. Kathleen Taylor believes
religious fundamentalism is a mental illness and is "curable." There are distinct psychological features of extremists that contribute to conflict among societal groups; Jan-Willem van Prooijen identified them as psychological distress, cognitive simplicity, overconfidence and intolerance. Another view is that extremism is an emotional outlet for severe feelings stemming from "persistent experiences of oppression, insecurity, humiliation, resentment, loss, and rage" which are presumed to "lead individuals and groups to adopt conflict engagement strategies which "fit" or feel consistent with these experiences". A 2019 study found that political extremism on both the left and right tended to have four common psychological features: psychological distress stimulates the adoption of an extreme ideological outlook, extreme ideologies tend to have relatively simplistic black-white perceptions of the social world, said mental simplicity causes overconfidence in judgements, and political extremists are less tolerant of different groups and opinions than moderates. == Criticism of term ==