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Commentary | Special Issue: Psychology of Violent Extremism

Sacred-symbolic cores and shifting peripheries: A structural account of ideological change in extremism

Mirra Noor Milla ORCID, Umar H Sulaiman ORCID, & Whinda Yustisia ORCID
https://doi.org/10.56296/aip00070
Published: September 28, 2026
Copyright: The authors (CC BY 4.0)

Milla, M.N., Sulaiman, U.H., & Yustisia, W. (2026). Sacred-symbolic cores and shifting peripheries: A structural account of ideological change in extremism. advances.in/psychology, 1, e407326. https://doi.org/10.56296/aip00070

Milla, Mirra Noor, et al. "Sacred-symbolic cores and shifting peripheries: A structural account of ideological change in extremism." advances.in/psychology, vol. 1, no. 1, 2026, e407326. https://doi.org/10.56296/aip00070.

Milla, Mirra Noor, Umar H Sulaiman, and Whinda Yustisia. 2026. "Sacred-symbolic cores and shifting peripheries: A structural account of ideological change in extremism." advances.in/psychology 1 (1): e407326. https://doi.org/10.56296/aip00070.

Milla MN, Sulaiman UH, Yustisia W. Sacred-symbolic cores and shifting peripheries: A structural account of ideological change in extremism. advances.in/psychology. 2026;1(1):e407326. doi:10.56296/aip00070.

Milla, M.N. et al. (2026) 'Sacred-symbolic cores and shifting peripheries: A structural account of ideological change in extremism', advances.in/psychology, 1(1), e407326. Available at: https://doi.org/10.56296/aip00070.

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Responding to Horgan and Shayler (2026), we agree that the “salad bar” metaphor lacks theoretical value, but we argue for a refinement scheme where ideology—even salad-bar ones—are conceptualized as a structure instead of as a mere mix of beliefs. We call for scholars in this area to move toward the deeper structural dimensions of ideologies. Using the case of Indonesian Islamic Jihadists, we identify stable sacred components and peripheral operational components within their ideological structure and show how this distinction may be useful in explaining the underlying psychological mechanism of ideological shift that the classification of ideology as mix of beliefs alone cannot provide.

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