fanaticism

psychology

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June 26, 2026

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Fanaticism is characterized by excessive enthusiasm and an uncritical devotion to a cause or belief. It involves an insistence on one's own views, often to the point of dogmatism. This can manifest as an extreme or radical adherence to opinions, being far from the center of public opinion. The term originates from the Latin fanaticus, meaning "inspired by a deity" or "frenzied".1234

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loyalty
Loyalty turns into fanaticism when it becomes wild and unreasoning and into resignation when it displays the characteristics of reluctant acceptance. Loyalty has an important social function. Only by an individual’s willingness, in cooperation with others, to invest intellectual and moral resources generously and wholeheartedly in something beyond…
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Loyalty turns into fanaticism when it becomes wild and unreasoning and into resignation when it displays the characteristics of reluctant acceptance. Loyalty has an important social function. Only by an individual’s willingness, in cooperation with others, to invest intellectual and moral resources generously and wholeheartedly in something beyond…
Read More

social movement
The membership
…orientation, have suggested that the fanaticism of dedicated members results from individual psychopathological states. An alternative explanation is that the social movement becomes a reference group that provides dedicated members with a new and deviant view of social reality. Their basic assumptions about the nature of the social order become…
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…orientation, have suggested that the fanaticism of dedicated members results from individual psychopathological states. An alternative explanation is that the social movement becomes a reference group that provides dedicated members with a new and deviant view of social reality. Their basic assumptions about the nature of the social order become…
Read More