Three studies tested the relationship between political extremism and cognitive complexity in an adult sample (N = 135), a sample of students (N = 145), and a sample of political party members (N = 47). According to value pluralism theory, advocates of extreme ideologies exhibit low levels of cognitive complexity. Context theory, in contrast, states that extremists think in a more complex and s...

Let me say at the outset how pleased I am to have the honour of visiting your beautiful state and of speaking with you tonight. I come, as you know, from an organization created through the vision of American leaders like Franklin Roosevelt -an organization, however, that has recently been widely caricatured as a giant paper factory and a talk shop -a huge, sprawling bureaucracy, totally out of...