Buletin Psikologi
Vol 33, No 2 (2025)

The underlying mechanism behind quest for significance and its role in violence extremism: A systematic literature review

Firdiani, Norberta Fauko (Unknown)
Milla, Mirra Noor (Unknown)
Hudiyana, Joevarian (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
02 Dec 2025

Abstract

Based on the Quest for Significance Theory (SQT), violent extremism is a consequence of the quest for significance activated by significance loss, significance gain, and threat of significance loss. This systematic literature review aims to synthesize previous research related to the quest for significance using SQT. The authors selected 103 articles, and 24 articles met the inclusion criteria. The review results indicate that loss of significance consistently tends to activate the quest for significance and predicts violent extremism stemming from various factors, including vulnerable environments, perceptions of injustice, social rejection, and failure to achieve goals. Conversely, significance gain shows inconsistency; studies suggest this factor strengthens, weakens, or predicts future involvement in violent extremism. There has been no empirical research specifically addressing the threat of significance loss. The measurement of significance loss and significance gain has not been clearly distinguished and uses various proxies, indicating that standardized measurement tools have not yet been established. Additionally, there is still overlap in the operationalization of measurement between significance loss and the quest for significance.

Copyrights © 2025






Journal Info

Abbrev

buletinpsikologi

Publisher

Subject

Religion Humanities Neuroscience Public Health Social Sciences

Description

Buletin Psikologi focuses on contextualizing psychological concepts or phenomena within the socio-cultural setting of Indonesia through the use of non-empirical study, such as, literature review, systematic review, scoping review, and meta-analysis. It accepts articles that are based on the thorough ...