An International Review of Empirical Research on the Psychology of Fundamentalism

Williamson, W. Paul; Demmrich, Sarah

Abstract

The empirical study of fundamentalism has amassed a relatively large literature dating from the early 20th century, with the last 20 years being most prolific. Yet, no recent effort has gathered this body of work for critical review. Addressing this concern, we (1) collected 365 empirical studies, (2) organized them into categories, and (3) provided a critical review of findings. A collective summary of fundamentalism statistical associations concluded that the largest share was moderate in size, followed by those described as weak, and then as strong, the latter being much less frequent. However, this observed pattern of relationships, particularly those characterized by moderate and, especially, strong associations, much reflected the findings from sexual bias studies. Finally, we offer critical considerations for sample selection, methodological approaches, and theoretical application in future fundamentalism research.