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6 - Extremism and Exclusion

The Role of the Quest for Significance

from Part II - Drivers of the Exclusion–Extremism Link

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2024

By
Molly Ellenberg  and
Arie W. Kruglanski
Edited by
Michaela Pfundmair ,
Andrew H. Hales  and
Kipling D. Williams
Michaela Pfundmair
Affiliation:
Federal University of Administrative Sciences, Germany
Andrew H. Hales
Affiliation:
University of Mississippi
Kipling D. Williams
Affiliation:
Purdue University, Indiana
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Summary

Extremism of all types arises from a motivational imbalance wherein one need outweighs all other needs. When such a process occurs, more means to achieving the focal goal, including those considered extreme, become available to the individual. Presently, we focus on the need for significance, an existential social need. When the quest for significance is dominant, an individual may be willing to make extreme sacrifices in order to achieve their goal. The quest for significance can be activated through many different means, one of which is the loss of significance through exclusion. When one perceives that they have been excluded, their motivation to regain respect is activated. When this motivation to restore significance comes to suppress one’s other needs, the individual becomes willing to engage in activities they may have previously considered socially unacceptable, including joining extreme groups and participating in violence, in order to fulfill their quest for significance.

Keywords

extremismexclusionquest for significancemotivational imbalanceviolent extremism
Type
Chapter
Information
Exclusion and Extremism
A Psychological Perspective
 , pp. 123 - 140
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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