A Neuropsychological Perspective of the Extremist Mind

MN Cunha* and OP Krupskyi

Extremism remains a persistent challenge for contemporary societies, with existing prevention and deradicalisation efforts often failing to fully address the psychological mechanisms underlying radical belief formation. This theoretical review examines extremism through an integrative psychological framework informed by, but not reducible to, neuropsychological research. It proposes that the adoption of an extremist mindset can be understood as the interaction of psychological vulnerabilities, irrational evaluative beliefs, socio-political conditions, and identity-based reinforcement processes.

Drawing on Cassam’s concept of “mindset extremism,” Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT), and contemporary cognitive research, the paper explores how heightened threat sensitivity, emotional dysregulation, and cognitive rigidity may contribute to dichotomous thinking and moral disengagement. Neurobiological findings are discussed cautiously and framed as correlational and theoretically suggestive rather than deterministic. By integrating psychological, social, and contextual levels of analysis, this work offers a non-reductionist model of extremist mindset formation and outlines implications for research and multi-level intervention strategies.

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Published on: Dec 18, 2025 Pages: 39-42

Full Text PDF Full Text HTML DOI: 10.17352/2455-5460.000104
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