The Dark Side of Belonging: Extremism, Identity and Purpose

8 MINUTE READ

While Belonging Across Cultures aims primarily to celebrate Difference and to highlight how a sense of Belonging might be created in a positive way we also need to understand how cultural and social division occurs. In this article, author Yang-May Ooi shares some of her investigation – based on scientific research – into why some people are drawn to extremist groups that thrive on hatred, anger and violence.

I believe very much that by connecting to each other’s humanity, we can find a bridge across cultural and social divides. But how is it that cultural and social divisions rise up. There are many factors, of course, and one thread I have been following, for now, is what draws people into groups fired up by hatred? 

Exploring Belonging and Extremism in Society

Through the ages, groups and movements have risen up that angrily and violently deny the humanity of others, justifying murder and acts of terror in the name of religion, politics or ideology. Such groups are here in our present time, the spread of their messages helped by social media.

I have increasingly stumbled across the theme of Belonging as central to the dark power of such extremist groups to attract and keep their followers. First, my reading took me to Naomi Klein’s Doppelganger and then to the murderous actions of the terrorists during Hannukah last year on Bondi Beach. More recently, I wrote about the trend towards division amongst Gen Z in “Can We be Friends with People Who Disagree with Us?” and how this fear of Difference can lead to the social violence of cancel culture.  

So I decided to learn more about how extremist views intersect with our very human need for Belonging. It’s a huge subject but for now, I found four key elements that are darkly fascinating.

Identity Fusion: When “I” Becomes “We”  

“Identity fusion” is what happens when a person’s sense of self becomes so deeply intertwined with a group that the boundaries between “I” and “we” blur. It is as if the group is not just something you belong to, but something you are.  

Studies found that people with high levels of identity fusion are willing to make extreme sacrifices for their group—sometimes even to the point of violence. This is because the group feels like family. Criticising the group or its leader feels like a personal attack, and defending it becomes a matter of survival.  

For example, researchers Moniz & Swann (2025) followed Trump supporters over several years. They found that people who were already “fused” with Trump before the 2020 election were much more likely to believe the “Big Lie” about election fraud afterwards. Belief in the conspiracy actually reinforced their identity fusion, creating a feedback loop: the more they believed, the more loyal they became, and the more they dismissed criticism as an attack on themselves.

Identity Crises and the Search for Meaning  

But how do people get caught up in an extremist group in the first place? 

This is another complicated area with a lot of different research with different methodologies. One study I found, by Echelmeyer and others, reviewed a range of research papers examining the role of identity crises and marginalization in radicalizing some people. Those who feel alienated, excluded, or uncertain about their place in the world are more likely to be vulnerable to extremist ideologies, whether religious or political. 

These movements offer a seductive antidote to the chaotic feeling of not knowing who you are and where you belong in the world. They provide clear narratives, moral certainty, as well as a tightly knit community. In a world that often feels fragmented and disorienting, these groups promise coherence. They say, “This is where you belong. This is who you are. And here is your purpose.” It’s easy to see why someone might find a sense of safety and belonging among such “bands of brothers” in contrast to the world out there where they might feel more adrift and alone.

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There are parallels with cult recruitment. Both rely on creating tight in-group boundaries and offering moral certainty. They provide a narrative that makes sense of the chaos, a community that validates your experiences, and a mission that gives your life meaning.  

I think it is a recognisable feeling –  there have been times perhaps when some of us may have felt that pull towards belonging to a group or a cause, even in less extreme ways. The desire to be part of something bigger than ourselves can be strong. But when we are at our lowest ebb or most vulnerable for whatever reason in our lives, might even the most sensible of us find our desire to belong exploited? 

I will write in another post about how I was drawn into the Evangelical movement which, for me, was very damaging in its focus on controlling what we should read, how we were to think and what constituted virtue and what they strongly deemed to be sinfulness. 

Radicalisation through Shared Victimhood 

Since the empowerment of women in more recent times through feminism and the Pill, there have been some men who have felt marginalised. I have found the rise of the “manosphere” in the 21st century particularly alarming. 

Incel (involuntary celibates) communities and Andrew Tate supporters (a cult-like figure preaching extreme anti-women views) are often caricatured as angry, misogynistic men, but the research suggests a more nuanced story. An analysis by Golbeck and others traced the radicalization process in incel forums and found that it often begins with social isolation, poor mental health, and low self-esteem. 

These individuals are searching for explanations, for someone to blame, and the manosphere offers them a narrative: “It’s not your fault, it’s society’s fault. Women are to blame.” The group provides an identity based on a collective sense of victimhood and a shared mission. These men’s personal struggles are reframed as collective grievances and the group becomes a sanctuary from and an army against the outside world, and women in particular.

There seems to me an unexpected power in shared victimhood, a trend that is evident beyond the incels and the manosphere, underpinning a range of different movements in our modern era. Communities can build a strong identity and purpose around the belief that “only we truly suffer.” It’s a narrative that creates a sense of solidarity but also widens the divide between “us” and “them.”  

The Quest for Significance

Arie Kruglanski’s “Quest for Significance” theory suggests that people are drawn to extremist groups because those groups offer a sense of purpose. They transform ordinary individuals into heroes of a grand narrative whether as collective victims or  warriors for a sacred cause. This is perhaps the most seductive aspect of these movements: they can make us feel, well, significant. In a world that often feels indifferent, they tell us that we matter and that our actions count. That we are part of something larger than ourselves.

The yearning for significance is something I recognize in myself, though I channel it into writing rather than ideology! For others, joining an extremist movement seems to be about identity and finding a place to belong when it feels that the world has rejected you. And discovering meaning when life feels empty.

More Questions than Answers

How do we address the underlying needs that drive people toward these groups? And how do we create spaces where people can find belonging and meaning without falling into the trap of extremism? 

How do we continue to see the humanity in others, even those we might be tempted to dismiss as “extremists” or “cult members”? 

If the narratives we tell ourselves – or hear from others – can shape identity, then how can those stories be used to heal, rather than harm? 

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Photo: pack of wolves (AI) – https://pixabay.com/illustrations/ai-generated-wolves-forest-animals-8937647/ 

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Sources:

The Power of Trump’s Big Lie: Identity Fusion, Internalizing Misinformation, and Support for Trump by Moniz and Swann – https://politicalsciencenow.com/the-power-of-trumps-big-lie-identity-fusion-internalizing-misinformation-and-support-for-trump/ 

The Putative Effect of Identity on Extremist Radicalization: A Systematic Review of Quantitative Studies  by Lea Echelmeyer – https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1057610X.2023.2247621#abstract 

“Why I Took the Blackpill”: A Thematic Analysis of the Radicalization Process in Incel Communities by Jennifer Golbeck & others – https://www.researchgate.net/publication/400415208_Why_I_Took_the_Blackpill_A_Thematic_Analysis_of_the_Radicalization_Process_in_Incel_Communities 

Arie W. Kruglanski – https://www.kruglanskiarie.com/the-quest-for-significance 

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