Political neuroscientist pinpoints 4 psychological markers of extreme ideologues

Psychologist/author Leor Zmigrod is known for her expertise on extremism and rigid mindsets — a topic she explores in her book, "The Ideological Brain: The Radical Science of Flexible Thinking."

In an interview with Big Think published on July 9, Zmigrod delves into the traits of rigid thinkers. And she lays out "four principal factors that correlate with someone holding extreme ideological beliefs."

The factors are (1) "Cognitive rigidity," (2) "emotional volatility," (3) "the amygdala," and (4) "prefrontal cortex."

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Zmigrod told Big Think, "Cognitive rigidity is the tendency to see the world in a really binary way. It's where you really struggle to adapt to change, and you tend to think along one mental track rather than switching between different modes of thinking."

According to Zmigrod, there are many ways to test for "cognitive rigidity." But her favorite involves a Coke bottle.

Big Think explains, "Let’s say I showed you a Coca-Cola bottle: What could you use it for? The more rigid reader will find it hard to think outside the paradigm of 'it can hold liquid.' Others will see it as a candle holder, a tiny terrarium, a vase, a salt shaker, and so on. This rigidity in thought is often correlated with extreme ideologies. The more rigid a person's thoughts, the more they incline toward extremism."

According to Big Think, "emotional impulsivity" can also be described as "emotional volatility."

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Zmigrod said of #3, "The amygdala is responsible for the processing of negative emotions like fear, threat, and disgust. And that brain area is actually larger in right-wing believers than left-wing believers. And this is a finding that’s been consistent across multiple countries, hundreds of participants, that there’s this brain area that might predispose you either to a left-wing or a right-wing ideology.”

The "prefrontal cortex," according to Big Think, houses "more sophisticated decision-making and rationality."

Zmigron told Big Think, "The brain differs in function and structure depending on whether you believe a fundamentalist ideology or a more moderate one."

According to Big Think, extremists crave frequent "thrills."

Big Think observes, "These people will 'tend to be the most seeking of thrills and sensations in their daily lives,' Zmigrod says. 'They want that novelty and that sensation. This is the person who's going to run to the front of the line.' This isn't overly surprising. It makes sense that people who are extreme in their day-to-day lives might tend toward extreme ideologies. But it also involves another set of co-appearing characteristics — what Zmigrod calls the tendency some people have 'to gravitate towards violent solutions and self-sacrifice.'"

Big Think adds, "If you think about your friends, who is the most likely to pick a fight? Who's the most likely to do something impulsive and jump without looking? Well, you might want to check how ideologically extreme they are."

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Read the full Big Think article at this link.