Book Review: The Psychology of the Extreme by Arie W. Kruglanski and Sophia Moskalenko

Arie Kruglanski and Sophia Moskalenko’s The Psychology of the Extreme advances a provocative reinterpretation of extremism by challenging conventional assumptions that terrorists and extremists are fundamentally distinct from the general population. Instead, the authors argue that extremism is best understood through the lens of “single-track mindedness”—an intense commitment to a dominant goal pursued at the expense of competing priorities. By drawing comparisons across a wide spectrum of historical, political, cultural, and everyday figures—including Vincent van Gogh, Mother Teresa, Osama bin Laden, Mahatma Gandhi, Jesus Christ, and Steve Jobs—the book reframes extremism as a heterogeneous psychological phenomenon that spans both constructive and destructive forms of dedication.