The Measurement of Cognitive Complexity and Its Relationship With Political Extremism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5801775 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alain Van Hiel (0000-0003-2286-737X, Ghent University), Ivan Mervielde (Ghent University) |
| Year | 2003 |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 781-801 |
| Publication date | 2003-11-14 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Political Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0162-895X • E-ISSN: 1467-9221 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1046/j.1467-9221.2003.00354.x |
| OpenAlex | W2136085712 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 33 |
| References cited | 44 |
Three studies tested the relationship between political extremism and cognitive complexity in an adult sample (N = 135), a sample of students (N = 145), and a sample of political party members (N = 47). According to value pluralism theory, advocates of extreme ideologies exhibit low levels of cognitive complexity. Context theory, in contrast, states that extremists think in a more complex and sophisticated way about politics. In accordance with context theory, significant positive correlations between cognitive complexity and extremist ideology were found in all samples. The results of these studies also revealed weak correlations among the cognitive complexity instruments used in previous research. Problems concerning the measurement of cognitive style and cognitive complexity are discussed
Cognitive complexity · Cognitive style · Pluralism · Sample (material · Value pluralism · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
Polarized sharing of fake news on social media
Mass media, new technology, and ideology
The Political Domain Appears Simpler to the Politically Extreme Than to Political Moderates
Two ways to be complex and why they matter
The Relationship Between Social‐Cultural Attitudes and Behavioral Measures of Cognitive Style
Openness to Experience and Boundaries in the Mind
Slicing the gordian knot of political extremism
Affective Polarization Among Radical‐Right Supporters
The hidden implications of radical group rhetoric
The language of violence
Does ideological polarization promote political engagement and trust? Evidence from Swiss panel data, 1999–2023
Need for closure and ethnic identification
Perceived political self‐efficacy
The Presence of Left-Wing Authoritarianism in Western Europe and Its Relationship with Conservative Ideology
Deliberation and Identity Rules
The “Deliberative Digital Divide
Predicting Drift on Politically Insulated Institutions
Using Cognitive Mapping to Study the Relationship between News Exposure and Cognitive Complexity
Automated Integrative Complexity
Strategic Communication and the Integrative Complexity‐Ideology Relationship
Lone‐Actor Terrorists’ Emotions and Cognition
Are Conservatives Really More Simple‐Minded than Liberals? The Domain Specificity of Complex Thinking
Political Extremism and a Generalized Propensity to Discriminate Among Values
Integrative Complexity Coding Raises Integratively Complex Issues
Increased Complexity Has Its Benefits
A Radical Vision of Radicalism
Does it pay to think about the future? Future orientation, ideology, age and vote earning among political candidates
Politics and Paradigm Preferences
Ideological Asymmetries and the Essence of Political Psychology
The Cognitive Processing of Politics and Politicians
An Integrative Complexity Analysis of Religious and Irreligious Thinking
The Language of Extremity
Cognitive-Affective Styles Associated With Position on War
Ideology and discontent
Strength and Weakness
Cognitive Structural Analysis of Political Rhetoric
Mechanization in problem solving
The authoritarian personality
Motivation and Personality
Political sophistication and political deviance
Status, ideology, and integrative complexity on the U.S. Supreme Court
The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics
Explorations in Political Psychology
The Psychology of Politics
Intolerance of Ambiguity as an Emotional and Perceptual Personality Variable
Toward a multi-factor theory of styles and their relationships to cognition and affect1
Assessment and correlates of cognitive differentiation and integration1
Relationships among Cognitive Complexity Variables
Half of All Authoritarians Are Left Wing
The Humdrum of Rhetorics
A Test of the Approaches of Adorno et al., Lederer and Altemeyer of Authoritarianism in Belgian Flanders
Cognitive Complexity and Cognitive Flexibility
Monitoring the Integrative Complexity of American and Soviet Policy Rhetoric
A value pluralism model of ideological reasoning
Political Interest, Political Information Search, and Ideological Homogeneity as a Function of Sociopolitical Ideology
Are cognitive styles still in style
Theoretical Conundrum
Left-Wing Authoritarianism
Integrative Complexity of Communications in International Crises
Stability and change in the complexity of senatorial debate
Generality of cognitive complexity-simplicity as a personality construct
Cognitive style and political ideology
Cognitive style and political belief systems in the British House of Commons
The silent counter-revolution
The Myth of Left-Wing Authoritarianism
Generalized mental rigidity as a factor in ethnocentrism
Cognitive complexity-simplicity and predictive behavior
| Unique citing works | 33 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,5 |
| Citation span | 2004 - 2025 (22) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 33 |