IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/palcom/v12y2025i1d10.1057_s41599-025-05685-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A systematic review: unveiling the complexity of definitions in extremism and religious extremism

Author

Listed:
  • Ahmad Munawar Ismail

    (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia)

  • Paramjit Singh Jamir Singh

    (Universiti Sains Malaysia)

  • Wan Kamal Mujani

    (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia)

Abstract

This study presents a systematic literature review (SLR) on the evolving and often ambiguous concepts of extremism and religious extremism, addressing the ongoing definitional challenges that hinder both academic discourse and policy development. Recognizing the growing significance of these phenomena in contemporary global contexts, the review adopts the PRISMA 2020 framework alongside the SPIDER tool to guide the formulation of research questions and article selection. A comprehensive search of the Web of Science and Scopus databases yielded 510 records, from which 11 articles published between 2018 and December 2023 were deemed eligible for final analysis. The selected studies were subjected to qualitative synthesis through thematic analysis, allowing for the identification of recurring themes and interpretive patterns. Three major themes emerged—belief, behaviour and absence of a universal definition—complemented by four sub-themes: uncompromised, biased interpretation, specific society and violation of true teaching. These findings underscore the complexity and multidimensionality of extremism, revealing how rigid ideological convictions and intolerance for dissent often drive behaviours that deviate from societal norms and ethical standards. Moreover, the review highlights the unique characteristics of religious extremism, which involves the manipulation of doctrinal teachings to justify exclusion, violence or intolerance. The lack of a consensus on the definition of extremism complicates identification and intervention efforts, particularly within legislative frameworks and societal applications. As such, this study emphasizes the urgent need for coherent, context-sensitive definitions that can inform more effective policy measures. It calls for interdisciplinary collaboration among scholars, policymakers and community leaders to refine the conceptual boundaries of extremism and religious extremism. In addition, long-term strategies should prioritize educational initiatives, social reforms and the promotion of democratic values to address the root causes of extremism and cultivate more inclusive, resilient societies.

Suggested Citation

  • Ahmad Munawar Ismail & Paramjit Singh Jamir Singh & Wan Kamal Mujani, 2025. "A systematic review: unveiling the complexity of definitions in extremism and religious extremism," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:12:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-025-05685-z
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-025-05685-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41599-025-05685-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41599-025-05685-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sascha Kraus & Matthias Breier & Sonia Dasí-Rodríguez, 2020. "The art of crafting a systematic literature review in entrepreneurship research," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 1023-1042, September.
    2. Saba Hanif & Majid Hassan Ali & Faiza Shaheen, 2021. "Religious Extremism, Religiosity and Sympathy toward the Taliban among Students across Madrassas and Worldly Education Schools in Pakistan," Terrorism and Political Violence, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(3), pages 489-504, April.
    3. Martín-Martín, Alberto & Orduna-Malea, Enrique & Thelwall, Mike & Delgado López-Cózar, Emilio, 2018. "Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus: A systematic comparison of citations in 252 subject categories," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 1160-1177.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Perez-Vega, Rodrigo & Hopkinson, Paul & Singhal, Aishwarya & Mariani, Marcello M., 2022. "From CRM to social CRM: A bibliometric review and research agenda for consumer research," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 1-16.
    2. Jingqi Gao & Xiang Wu & Xiaowei Luo & Shukai Guan, 2021. "Scientometric Analysis of Safety Sign Research: 1990–2019," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-15, January.
    3. Stefano D’Angelo & Angelo Cavallo & Antonio Ghezzi & Francesco Di Lorenzo, 2024. "Understanding corporate entrepreneurship in the digital age: a review and research agenda," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 18(12), pages 3719-3774, December.
    4. Durán-Romero, Gemma & López, Ana M. & Beliaeva, Tatiana & Ferasso, Marcos & Garonne, Christophe & Jones, Paul, 2020. "Bridging the gap between circular economy and climate change mitigation policies through eco-innovations and Quintuple Helix Model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    5. Rosa Lombardi & Raffaele Trequattrini & Federico Schimperna & Myriam Cano-Rubio, 2021. "The Impact of Smart Technologies on theManagement and Strategic Control: A Structured Literature Review," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2021(suppl. 1), pages 11-30.
    6. Justin R. Hall & Selen Savas-Hall & Eric H. Shaw, 2023. "A deductive approach to a systematic review of entrepreneurship literature," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 73(3), pages 987-1016, September.
    7. Francisco Díez-Martín & Giorgia Miotto & Cristina Del-Castillo-Feito, 2024. "The intellectual structure of gender equality research in the business economics literature," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 18(6), pages 1649-1680, June.
    8. Pantea Kamrani & Isabelle Dorsch & Wolfgang G. Stock, 2021. "Do researchers know what the h-index is? And how do they estimate its importance?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(7), pages 5489-5508, July.
    9. Zoltán Krajcsák, 2021. "Researcher Performance in Scopus Articles ( RPSA ) as a New Scientometric Model of Scientific Output: Tested in Business Area of V4 Countries," Publications, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-23, October.
    10. Tianlong Yu & Hao Yang & Xiaowei Luo & Yifeng Jiang & Xiang Wu & Jingqi Gao, 2021. "Scientometric Analysis of Disaster Risk Perception: 2000–2020," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-19, December.
    11. Angerer, Martin & Hoffmann, Christian Hugo & Neitzert, Florian & Kraus, Sascha, 2021. "Objective and subjective risks of investing into cryptocurrencies," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 40(C).
    12. Sascha Kraus & Paul Jones & Norbert Kailer & Alexandra Weinmann & Nuria Chaparro-Banegas & Norat Roig-Tierno, 2021. "Digital Transformation: An Overview of the Current State of the Art of Research," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(3), pages 21582440211, September.
    13. Thu-Hang Hoang & Thi-Trang Tran & Lam Nha Tu Huynh & Dung Khanh Vo & Bao Gia Huynh & Tam Minh Thi Tran & Nguyen Dang Nguyen, 2025. "Advances and barriers in promoting green logistics 4.0 from a multi-stakeholder perspective–a systematic review," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 1-19, June.
    14. Zamani, Mehdi & Yalcin, Haydar & Naeini, Ali Bonyadi & Zeba, Gordana & Daim, Tugrul U, 2022. "Developing metrics for emerging technologies: identification and assessment," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    15. Zhentao Liang & Jin Mao & Kun Lu & Gang Li, 2021. "Finding citations for PubMed: a large-scale comparison between five freely available bibliographic data sources," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(12), pages 9519-9542, December.
    16. Esther Calderon-Monge & Domingo Ribeiro-Soriano, 2024. "The role of digitalization in business and management: a systematic literature review," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 449-491, February.
    17. Parul Khurana & Kiran Sharma, 2022. "Impact of h-index on author’s rankings: an improvement to the h-index for lower-ranked authors," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(8), pages 4483-4498, August.
    18. Rodrigo Barbosa & Mayara Barbosa & Amalia Raquel Pérez-Nebra & Esther Villajos & Fernando González-Ladrón-de-Guevara, 2025. "A half-century perspective of entrepreneur’s well-being: comparing academic and global entrepreneurship monitor trends," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, December.
    19. Ferreira, João J. & Fernandes, Cristina I. & Schiavone, Francesco & Mahto, Raj V., 2021. "Sustainability in family business – A bibliometric study and a research agenda," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    20. Ana Teresa Tavares-Lehmann & Celeste Varum, 2021. "Industry 4.0 and Sustainability: A Bibliometric Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-15, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:12:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-025-05685-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.nature.com/palcomms/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.