Explanation and organization of

Vaez Mousavi, Mohammad Mahdi; Foladian, Majid; Zakeri, Alireza; Kermani, Mahdi

Explanation and organization of "fanatic personality" in social sciences

Document Type : researcher

Authors

Mohammad Mahdi Vaez Mousavi ¹

Majid Foladian ²

alireza zakeri ³

mahdi kermani ⁴

¹ Master of social science research, Ferdowsi University

² Mashhad university

³ Assistant Professor of Sociology from Tarbiat Modares University

⁴ Member of the Faculty of Social Sciences of Ferdowsi University

Abstract

In this work, with the aim of clarifying the meaning of "fanatical character" in social sciences, the concepts related to it are studied and systematically reviewed. In this article, we reviewed the theories and perspectives of this theoretical field using the method of document analysis. Finally, by examining the central concept of "extremism", its constituent conceptual elements ("ethnocentrism", "dogmatism", "collective narcissism", "xenophobia", "grudge", "practical violence", "following authority" and " "Mabbi" which are collectively formed around "radical" and "conservative" positions) are examined and separated from each other. Finally, "fanatic character" is introduced as a macro-concept that represents "extremism" in the intellectual field and in the socio-political field (with manifestations such as "authoritarianism" and "fundamentalism") as well as in the field of consumption and entertainment. This work is considered a theoretical effort to disambiguate and organize the concepts of the field of "ideological violence", which ultimately provides a conceptual framework for classifying the concepts of this field under the conceptual umbrella of "prejudice". It also determines the position of this concept in the theoretical system of similar concepts.

Keywords

Prejudice

extremism

authoritarianism

fundamentalism

ethnocentrism

20.1001.1.38552322.1402.12.48.8.1

Subjects

Culture studies

Abbas, T. (2019). Islamophobia And Radicalization: A Vicious Cycle. New York: Oxford University Press.

Adorno, T., Frenkel-Brunswik, E., Levinson, D. J., & Sanford, R. N. (1950). The Authoritarian Personality. New York: Harper & Brothers.

Afary, J., & Friedland, R. (2018). Critical theory, authoritarianism, and the politics of lipstick from the Weimar Republic to the contemporary Middle East. Critical Research on Religion, 6(3), 243–268. doi:doi:10.1177/2050303218800374

Ahmed, J. U. (2010). Documentary Research Method: New Dimensions. Indus Journal of Management & Social Sciences, 4(1), 1-14. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227441751_Documentary_Research_Method_New_Dimensions

Alamuddin, B. (2021, August 08). Fanatics in Iran and Israel goad each other toward war. Retrieved from Arab News: https://www.arabnews.com/node/1907371

Albarracín, D., Sally Chan, M.-p., & Jiang, D. (2012). Attitudes and Attitude Change: Social and Personality Considerations About Specific and General Patterns of Behavior. In K. Deaux, & M. Snyder (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Personality and Social Psychology, 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford Library of Psychology. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325114580_Attitudes_and_Attitude_Change_Social_and_Personality_Considerations_about_Specific_and_General_Patterns_of_Behavior

Alekseewitsch, Y. J. (2020). The definition of “extremism”. Austrian Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 238-240. Retrieved from https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/the-definition-of-extremism

Altemeyer, B. (1981). Right-Wing Authoritarianism. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press.

Altemeyer, B. (1988). Enemies of Freedom: Understanding Right-wing Authoritarianism. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Altemeyer, B. (1996). The Authoritarian specter. London: Harvard University Press.

Altemeyer, B. (1998). The Other “Authoritarian Personality ”. Advances In Exprimental Social Psychology. Vol 10. 30, 47-92. /doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60382-2

Altemeyer, B. (2002). Dogmatic Behavior Among Students: Testing a New Measure of Dogmatism. The Journal of Social Psychology, 713-721. doi:10.1080/00224540209603931

Altemeyer, B. (2003). Why do religious fundamentalists tend to be prejudiced? International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 7-28. Doi: 10.1207/S15327582IJPR1301_03

Altemeyer, B. (2010). The Authoritarians. Lulu.com.

Altemeyer, B., & Hunsberger, B. (1992). Authoritarianism, Religious Fundamentalism, Quest, and Prejudice. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion 2(2), 113–133. doi:10.1207/s15327582ijpr0202_5

Amir, A. (2015). They made up a legend; Genealogy of Iranian works about the National Character in recent fifty years. Tehran: Research Institute of Culture, Art and Communication. [In Persian]

Aribowo, A. S., Basiron, H., Herman, N. S., & Khomsah, S. (2020). Fanaticism Category Generation Using Tree-Based Machine Learning Method. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1-9. doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1501/1/012021

Aronson, E. (1999). The Social Animal, 8th. ed. (H. Shokrkon, Trans.) Tehran: Roshd. [In Persian]

Bayani, F. (2019). The Jurisprudence Trace Behind the DAESH Trench: Theoretical Basis of Islamic Fundamentalism Focusing on Kurdistan Province of Iran. Asian Journal of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, 13:3., 370-386. doi:10.1080/25765949.2019.1630577

Beauvais, E. (2020). The Political Consequences of Indigenous Resentment. The Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics, 1-28. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-race-ethnicity-and-politics/article/abs/political-consequences-of-indigenous-resentment/7BAD42F66D43A01B26B60109D58EF9FA

Beauvais, E. (2021). Measuring Anti‑Indigenous Attitudes: The Indigenous Resentment Scale. Race and Social Problems, 1-14. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12552-021-09317-4

Beck, C. J. (2013). Ideology. In D. A. Snow, D. d. Porta, B. Klandermans, & D. McAdam (Eds.), The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social and Political Movement (pp. 1-5). Blackwell Publishing. https://pages.pomona.edu/~cjb14747/pdfs/Beck_Ideology.pdf

Bednarz, D., Follath, E., & Mascolo, G. (2005, 12 19). Fanaticism in Iran; Ahmadinejad's Challenge to the World. Retrieved from Spiegel International: https://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/fanaticism-in-iran-ahmadinejad-s-challenge-to-the-world-a-391199.html?sara_ref=re-xx-cp-sh

Beider, N. (2020). The Zeal of the Convert Revisited. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12698

Berger, P., & Zijderveld, A. (2009). In Praise of Doubt: How to Have Convictions Without Becoming a Fanatic. (M. Habibi, Trans.) Tehran: Goman. [In Persian]

Borum, R. (2011). Radicalization into Violent Extremism I: A Review of Social Science Theories. Journal of Strategic Security , Vol. 4, No. 4, 7-36. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26463910

Boudon, R. (1986). Ideologie, ou I'origine des idees recues. (I. AliAbadi, Trans.) Tehran: Shiraze. [In Persian]

Browne, E. G. (1992). A Year amongst the Persians. Tehran: Saffar. [In Persian]

Bufacchi, V. (2005). Two Concepts of Violence. Political Studies Review, VOL 3, 193–204. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-9299.2005.00023.x

Caiani, M. (2013). Extremism. In The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social and Political Movements. The Wiley-Blackwell. doi:10.1002/9780470674871.wbespm088

Carmines, E. G., Sniderman, P. M., & Easter, B. C. (2011). On the Meaning, Measurement, and Implications of Racial Resentment. The Annals of The American Academy, 98-116. DOI: 10.1177/0002716210387499

Carter, E. (2018). Right-wing extremism/radicalism: reconstructing the concept. Journal of Political Ideologies, 1-26. doi:10.1080/13569317.2018.1451227

Cavanaugh, W. T. (2011). The Invention of Fanaticism. Modern Theology 27:2, 226-237. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0025.2010.01673.x

Cichocka, A., & Cislak, A. (2020). Nationalism as collective narcissism. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 34, 69–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2019.12.013

Clarke, S. (2017). Competing fundamentalisms: violent extremism in Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.

Costello, T. H., Bowes, S. M., Stevens, S. T., Waldman, I. D., Tasimi, A., & Lilienfeld, S. O. (2022). Clarifying the Structure and Nature of Left-wing Authoritarianism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Jan;122(1), 135-170. Doi: 10.1037/pspp0000341

Cross, R. (2013). Radicalism. In The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social and Political Movements. Wiley-Blackwell. doi:10.1002/9780470674871.wbespm175

Cross, R., & Snow, D. A. (2012). Radicalism within the Context of Social Movements: Processes and Types. Journal of Strategic Security, Volume 4, No. 4, 114-130. doi:10.5038/1944-0472.4.4.5

Crowson, H. (2009). Does the DOG Scale Measure Dogmatism? Another Look at Construct Validity. The Journal of Social Psychology, 149:3, 365-383. https://doi.org/10.3200/SOCP.149.3.365-383

Darvishi, H., & Rezaee, A. (2021). In the Meaning and Indicators of "Islamic Fundamentalism". Cultural Studies and Communications, 193-220. doi:10.22034/jcsc.2020.134954.2204 [In Persian]

de Zavala, A. G., & Lantos, D. (2020). Collective Narcissism and Its Social Consequences: The Bad and the Ugly. Current Directions in Psychological Science, Vol. 29(3), 273–278. DOI: 10.1177/0963721420917703

de Zavala, A. G., Cichocka, A., Eidelson, R., & Jayawickreme, N. (2009). Collective Narcissism and Its Social Consequences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 97, No. 6, 1074–1096. DOI: 10.1037/a0016904

Dieulafoy, J. (1980). Dieulafoy's Travelogue During the Qajar Era. (Homayoun, Trans.) Tehran: Khayam. [In Persian]

Doston, T. (2021). The Divide: How Fanatical Certitude Is Destroying Democracy. London: The MIT Press.

Duckitt, J. (2020). Authoritarianism: Conceptualization, research, and new developments. In G. Sibley, & D. Osborne (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Political Psychology. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346051358_Authoritarianism_Conceptualization_research_and_new_developments

Dwarak, I., & Anuviyan, M. (2013). Spirituality and Dogmatism: Social Implications of Dogmatism and Its Cure. Journal Of Humanities And Social Science, Volume 16, Issue 6, 86-94. https://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jhss/papers/Vol16-issue6/O01668694.pdf

Enders, A. M. (2019). A Matter of Principle? On the Relationship Between Racial Resentment and Ideology. Political Behavior, 1-24. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11109-019-09561-w

Erics, A., Deveci, F. G., & Turk, B. (2018). Determination of Fanatic consumer behaviours at the personality level. Journal of Global Strategic Management, 81-92. DOI: 10.20460/JGSM.2018.263

Euben, R. L. (1999). Enemy in the Mirror: Islamic Fundamentalism and The Limits of Modern Rationalism. princeton: Princeton University Press.

Ferasatkhah, M. (2016). Historical and Social Background of Iranian's National Character. Tehran: Ney. [In Persian]

Frenkel-Brunswik, E. (1950). Dynamic and Cognitive Personality Organization as Seen Through the Interviews. In T. Adorno, E. F. Brunswik, D. J. Levinson, & R. N. Sanford, The Authoritarian Personality (pp. 442-467). New York: Harper & Brothers.

Fuschillo, G. (2018). Fans, fandoms, or fanaticism? Journal of Consumer Culture, 1-19. DOI: 10.1177/1469540518773822

Gordon, P. E. (2019). The Athuritarian Personality Revisited. In W. Brown, P. E. Gordon, & M. Pensky, Authoritarianism: Three Inquiries in Critical Theory (pp. 45-84). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Gordon, S., & Riboni, A. (2015). Doubts and Dogmatism in Conflict Behaviour. The Economic Journal, 1791-1817. doi:10.1111/ecoj.12326

Griffin, R. (2012). Terrorist's CreedY Fanatical Violence and the Human Need for Meaning. New York: PALGRAVE MACMILLAN.

Guilherme, A. (2017). Understanding conflict resolution philosophically in a school setting: three different kinds of violence and dialogue. Journal of Peace Education, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/17400201.2017.1323728

Haleem, I. (2012). The Essence of Islamist Extremism; Recognition through violence, freedom through death. New York: Routledge.

Haynes, J. (2017). Competing fundamentalisms: violent extremism in Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. Politics, Religion & Ideology, 1-2. doi:10.1080/21567689.2017.1355572

Hazeri, A., & Haji Hashemi, M. (2013). The Components of Religious Fundamentalism in Iran with a Native Approach. Journal of Sosciology of Iran, 85-125. doi:20.1001.1.17351901.1393.15.2.4.3 [In Persian]

Herriot, P. (2021). Religious Fundamentalism: Global, Local and Personal. (M. Razzaghi, Trans.) Tehran: Negah-e-Moaaser. [In Persian]

Hogg, M. A., Kruglanski, A., & van den Bos, K. (2013). Uncertainty and the Roots of Extremism. Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 69, No. 3, 407-418. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12021

Hong Le, M. (2019). Brand Fanaticism: Scale Development (PHD Thesis). Queensland University: School of Advertising, Marketing, and Public Relations: Queensland University of Technology. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/130710/1/Minh%20Thi%20Hong_Le_Thesis.pdf

Hood, JR, R. W., Hill, P. C., & Williamson, W. P. (2005). The Psychology of Religious Fundamentalism. New York: THE GUILFORD PRESS.

Juergensmeyer, M. (2017). Terror in the Mind of God. Oakland, California: university of california press.

Kazemi, F. (1984). The Fadaˈiyan-e Islam: Fanaticism, Politics and Terror. In S. Arjomand (Ed.), From Nationalism to Revolutionary Islam. St Antony’s/Macmillan Series. London: Palgrave Macmillan. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-06847-0_8

Khosrokhavar, F. (2017). Radicalization: Why Some People Choose the Path of Violence. (J. Marie Todd , Trans.) The New Press.

Klein, A. (2017). Fanaticism, Racism, and Rage Online: Corrupting the Digital Sphere. New York: Springer International Publishing.

Klein, K. M., & Kruglanski, A. W. (2013). Commitment and Extremism: A Goal Systemic Analysis. Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 69, No. 3, 419-435. DOI: 10.1111/josi.12022

Knight, N. A. (2014). State Terrorism in Iran: Understanding the case of the Iranian Baha'i Community. Florida: Boca Raton.

Lacorne, D. (2019). The Limits of Tolerance; Enlightenment values and religious fanaticism. (R. Emlein, & c. J. Delogu, Trans.) New York: Columbia University Press.

Lange, S. d., Bruga, W. v., & Hartevelda, E. (2023). Regional resentment in the Netherlands: A rural or peripheral phenomenon? Regional Studies, VOL. 57, NO. 3, 403–415. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00343404.2022.2084527?needAccess=true

Mackellar, J. (2006). Fanatics, fans or just good fun? Travel behaviours and motivations of the fanatic. Journal of Vacation Marketing, Volume 12, Number 3, 195–217.
https://doi.org/10.1177/135676670606462

Malekian, M. (2018, 1 30). 20 factors behind the backwardness of Iranians. Retrieved from Insaf News: http://www.ensafnews.com/98834/20/ [In Persian]

Marimaa, K. (2011). The many Faces of Fanaticism. ENDC Proceedings, Volume 14, 29–55. https://www.ksk.edu.ee/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/KVUOA_Toimetised_14_2_kalmer_marimaa.pdf

Moeinifar, V., & Gunduc, S. (2021). Zealots’ Effect on Opinion Dynamics in Complex Networks. Mathematical Modeling and Computing, Vol. 8, No. 2,, 203-214. https://doi.org/10.23939/mmc2021.02.203

Moradi, B. (2020). Islammic Fundamentalism and Post-Modernism. Tehran: Bahman Borna. [In Persian]

Morier, J. J. (2000). The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan. (M. Afshar, Trans.) Tehran: Zarrin. [In Persian]

Morris, B. (1969). Travel to Iran. (M. Hedayat, Trans.) Tehran: Amir Kabir. [In Persian]

Movahed, M., Broumandzadeh, M., & Fakhrizadeh, H. (2013). A Sociological Approach to Fundamentalism or Extremism in Religions. Specialized Quarterly Journal of Social Sciences, 119-142. Retrieved from https://ensani.ir/fa/article/318391 [In Persian]

Mudde, C. (1995). Right-wing extremism analyzed: A comparative analysis of the ideologies of three alleged right-wing extremist parties (NPD,N DP,C P‘86). European Journal of Political Research, 27, 203-224. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.1995.tb00636.x

Munis, B. K. (2022). Us Over Here Versus Them Over There…Literally: Measuring Place Resentment in American Politics. Political Behavior, volume 44, 1057-1078. DOI: 10.1007/s11109-020-09641-2

Neto, J., & Neto, F. (2022). Ethnocentrism: A Short Form Measure. SAGE Open, 12(2), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440221094589

Neumann, P. R. (2013). The trouble with radicalization. International Affairs, 873-893. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2346.12049

Norris, G. (2005). The Authoritarian Personality in the 21st century(Doctoral Thesis). Robina: Bond University. https://pure.bond.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/28906055/Norris_Thesis.pdf

Olivier, G.-A. (1992). Travels in the Ottoman Empire, Egypt, and Persia undertaken by order of the government of France, during the first six years of the Republic. (T. Mohammad, Trans.) Tehran: Ettelaat. [In Persian]

Olonisakin, T. T., & Adebayo, S. O. (2021). Xenophobia: scale development and validation. Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 1-13. DOI: 10.1080/02589001.2020.1853686

Ottati, V., Price, E. D., Wilson, C., & Sumaktoyo, N. (2015). When Self-Perceptions of Expertise Increase Closed-Minded Cognition: The Earned Dogmatism Effect. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 1-35. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2015.08.003

Padir, M. A. (2019). Examining Xenophobia In Syrian Refugees Context: The Roles of Perceived Threats and Social Contact (PHD Thesis). Turkey: Department of Educational Sciences, Middle East Technical University. https://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12622919/index.pdf

Plotica, L. P. (2017). Conservatism. In B. S. Turner (Ed.), TheWiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social Theory. JohnWiley & Sons, Ltd. doi:10.1002/9781118430873.est0597

Polak, J. E. (1979). Polak's travelogue: Iran and Iranians. (K. Jahandari, Trans.) Tehran: Kharazmi. [In Persian]

Pratt, D. (2010). Religion and Terrorism: Christian Fundamentalism and Extremism. Terrorism and Political Violence, 22:3, 438-456. doi:10.1080/09546551003689399

Robles, M. U. (2013). Fanaticism In Psychoanalysis. London: Karnac Books.

Rokeach, M. (1954). The nature and meaning of dogmatism. Psychological Review, 194-204. https://www.all-about-psychology.com/dogmatism.html

Rokeach, M. (1960). The Open and Closed Mind: Investigation Into the Nature of Belief Systems and Personality Systems. New York: Basic Books.

Ruthven, M. (2007). Fundamentalism: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press.

Sadeghi Fasaee, S., & ImanManesh, E. (2016). Methodological Foundations of Documentary Research in Social Sciences. Culture strategy, 61-91. Retrieved from https://www.sid.ir/paper/401710 [In Persian]

Saucier, G., Akers, L. G., Miller, S. S., Knezevic, G., & Stankov, L. (2009). Patterns of Thinking in Militant Extremism. Perspective on Psychological Science, Volume 4, Number 3, 256-271. DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-6924.2009.01123.x

Scheler, M. (2007). Ressentiment. (S. Najafi, & J. Ganji, Trans.) Tehran: Saales. [In Persian]

Seddigh Oraei, G., Farzaneh, A., Bagheri, M., & Mohammadi, S. (2019). Principles of Sociology; Fundamental Concepts and Propositions. Qom: Research Institute of Hawzah and University. [In Persian]

Sedgwick, M. (2010). The Concept of Radicalization as a Source of Confusion. Terrorism and Political Violence, 479-494. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2010.491009

Serebryakova, T., Koneva, I., Ladykova, O., Begantsova, I., Kostina, O., Yegorova, T., & Fomina, N. (2019). Manipulation as a form of manifestation of violence In the family: an empirical approach to considering the problem. Amazonia Investiga, Vol. 8 Num. 21, 767-777. https://amazoniainvestiga.info/index.php/amazonia/article/view/165

Smith, T. (1984, Feb 12). Iran: Five Years of Fanaticism. Retrieved from the New York Times Magazine: https://www.nytimes.com/1984/02/12/magazine/iran-five-years-of-fanaticism.html

Stanko, E. A. (2003). The Meanings of Violence. New York: Routledgey; Taylor and Francis.

Stankov, L. (2021). From social conservatism and authoritarian populism to militant right-wing extremism. Personality and Individual Differences, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.110733

Stephens, W., Sieckelinck, S., & Boutellier, H. (2019). Preventing Violent Extremism: A Review of the Literature. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 1-16. doi:10.1080/1057610X.2018.1543144

Sumner, W. G. (1906). Folkways. Ginn.

Tight, M. (2019). Documentary Research in the Social Sciences. California: SAGE Publications Ltd.

Toscano, A. (2010). Fanaticism: On the Uses of an Idea. New york: Verso.

Venter, A. J. (2005). Iran's Nuclear Option; Tehran's Quest for the Atomic Bomb. Philadelphia: Casemate.

White, K. R., Kinney, D., Danek, R. H., Smith, B., & Harben, C. (2020). The Resistance to Change-Beliefs Scale: Validation of a New Measure of Conservative Ideology. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 46(1), 20-35. DOI: 10.1177/0146167219841624

Wilcox, L. M. (1988). What is Political Extremism? Lawrence: University of Kansas, Editorial Research Service. Retrieved from https://archives.lib.ku.edu/repositories/3/archival_objects/102244%20Accessed%20April%2005,%202023. [In Persian]

Wilson, D. C., & Davis, D. W. (2011). Reexamining Racial Resentment: Conceptualization and Content. The Annals of The American Academy, 117-133. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716210388477

Zmigrod, L. (2020). The role of cognitive rigidity in political ideologies: theory, evidence, and future directions. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 34-39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2019.10.016