Fanaticism

Fanaticism is an intense, uncritical devotion to a cause or belief often characterized by refusal to entertain contrary opinions. Inspired by Eric Hoffer’s seminal book, “The True Believer,” my research explores the factors and contexts contributing to fanaticism and related psychological states like extremism. A key finding is the role of “misplaced certainty,” which is a sense of certainty despite lack of evidence or in the face of skepticism from others. This phenomenon, we’ve discovered, often precipitates fanatical behaviors such as aggression, willful ignorance, and joining extremist groups.

In our recent study involving 3,277 participants, we focused on “discordant knowing”—the feeling of certainty about a belief perceived as controversial or wrong by most others—as a potential underpinning of fanaticism. Our findings suggest that individuals manipulated to hold discordant views showed increased indicators of fanaticism. This heightened fanaticism was observed in real-world contexts as well, such as beliefs about the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election and the morality of abortion. Notably, individuals identified as anti-vaccine fanatics and members of a fanatical religious group exhibited higher levels of discordant knowing than non-fanatical individuals.

In another article, we propose that misplaced certainty could also illuminate why conspiracy theories sometimes escalate into action, violence, and other antisocial behaviors. Specifically, when individuals harbor conspiracy theories with misplaced certainty, they may be more likely to act upon these beliefs.