The Psychology of Political Extremism
Four things extremists on both sides have in common
It’s a truth rarely acknowledged that the political spectrum doesn’t always resemble a straight line. Sometimes it curls back in on itself like a horseshoe, with the hard left and hard right ending up closer to each other than to the moderates in their midst.
This idea has always had a whiff of pub logic about it. It turns out, however, that psychological science backs it up.
A recent paper by Jan-Willem van Prooijen and André Krouwel explores the psychology of political extremists on both ends of the spectrum. It identifies four key traits that both tend to have in common, and which distinguish them from moderates:
Psychological distress
Cognitive simplicity
Overconfidence
Intolerance
So while the radical left and radical right might disagree on just about everything - immigration, inequality, pineapple on pizza - they still resemble each other in some deep and rather unflattering ways.
Let’s take a tour.
1. Psychological Distress
First up: psychological distress - a gnawing sense of meaninglessness born of anxious uncertainty.
The idea here is that when people feel lost, small, or insignificant, they often go searching for something that will make them feel found, big, and important. Enter ideology - and the more extreme, the better. Extremist ideologies turn a complicated, chaotic world into a battle between good and evil, right and wrong, us and them.
Recent research supports this proposal: People experiencing psychological distress are more likely to gravitate toward radical ideologies, whether on the left or on the right. This clashes with traditional thinking in social psychology, according to which distress, uncertainty, and threat tend only to push people rightward. Apparently, any port will do in a psychological storm, as long as it offers a sense of purpose and clarity.
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2. Cognitive Simplicity
Next, we have cognitive simplicity: the tendency to view the world in stark black-and-white terms.
Life is complex. Immigration policy is complex. Climate change is complex. Even choosing what to watch on Netflix is complex if you think too hard about it. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, nuance starts to feel less like insight and more like a burden. That’s where extremist ideologies come in. They offer a comforting alternative: simple answers to the complex questions of life.
In one study, both far-left and far-right respondents believed that the EU refugee crisis had a simple solution - they just disagreed on what it was. Moderates, in contrast, were more likely to recognize that the issue was, in fact, horrendously complicated.
The quest for cognitive simplicity can also be seen in conspiracy thinking. Whether it’s chemtrails or the Koch brothers, the far-left and far-right are both prone to conspiracy theories. The theories each side holds differ wildly, but the appeal is the same: a straightforward (if sinister) explanation for a messy world.
3. Overconfidence
This one follows logically from the last: If you see the world in simple terms, you're more likely to think that you’re right about it. This opens the door to an unwelcome guest: overconfidence.
Political extremists - whether waving red flags or wearing red caps - tend to think their views are not just correct, but obviously correct. They’re also more prone to “belief superiority”: the conviction that their views aren’t just true, but also morally and intellectually superior to everyone else’s.
Unfortunately for the extremists, belief superiority isn’t a great predictor of actual knowledge. In fact, one study spanning 45 nations and more than 63,000 participants, found that political extremists are less knowledgeable than moderates - particularly the slightly left and slightly right. In short, those who shout the loudest may understand the least.
4. Intolerance
Finally, we come to intolerance - perhaps the most obvious and most worrying of all four traits.
Extremists on both sides tend to view people with opposing views not just as wrong, but as morally deficient. And when you believe you’re defending the one true path to salvation - whether that’s socialism or nationalism - it becomes easier to justify shutting out, shouting down, or even punishing those who disagree.
Traditionally, intolerance was seen as a uniquely right-wing pathology. And true enough, conservatives are more likely to be biased against certain groups. But leftists aren’t immune to bias. They have their own collection of prejudices, often aimed at groups they associate with right-wing thinking - Christians, businesspeople, and the like.
The main takeaway? Political orientation is a fuzzy predictor of intolerance. Political extremism, on the other hand, is a much stronger one.
Final Thoughts: Horseshoe Theory, Revisited
What does it all mean?
It means that although left-wing and right-wing extremists might seem like polar opposites, they’re more like estranged siblings. They’re shaped by similar psychological forces, just channeled in different ideological directions.
None of this is to say that all radicals are bad, or all moderates wise. History is full of moderate cowards and radical heroes. But if you’re ever tempted to paint your political opponents as uniquely irrational, intolerant, or deluded… well, take a look in the horseshoe-shaped mirror first.
You can access van Prooijen and Krouwel’s paper here for free.
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