Commentary | Special Issue: Psychology of Violent Extremism

Beyond the salad bar: Nihilistic violent extremism and the quest for significance in Southeast Asia

https://doi.org/10.56296/aip00074
Published: November 10, 2026
Copyright: The authors (CC BY 4.0)

Ramakrishna, K. & Yeo, K. (2026). Beyond the salad bar: Nihilistic violent extremism and the quest for significance in Southeast Asia. advances.in/psychology, 1, e156796. https://doi.org/10.56296/aip00074

Ramakrishna, Kumar, and Kenneth Yeo. "Beyond the salad bar: Nihilistic violent extremism and the quest for significance in Southeast Asia." advances.in/psychology, vol. 1, no. 1, 2026, e156796. https://doi.org/10.56296/aip00074.

Ramakrishna, Kumar, and Kenneth Yeo. 2026. "Beyond the salad bar: Nihilistic violent extremism and the quest for significance in Southeast Asia." advances.in/psychology 1 (1): e156796. https://doi.org/10.56296/aip00074.

Ramakrishna K, Yeo K. Beyond the salad bar: Nihilistic violent extremism and the quest for significance in Southeast Asia. advances.in/psychology. 2026;1(1):e156796. doi:10.56296/aip00074.

Ramakrishna, K. and Yeo, K. (2026) 'Beyond the salad bar: Nihilistic violent extremism and the quest for significance in Southeast Asia', advances.in/psychology, 1(1), e156796. Available at: https://doi.org/10.56296/aip00074.

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Scholars have noted the prevalence of ‘salad bar extremism,’ a pattern where individuals construct violent worldviews by piecing together disjointed ideological fragments. So far, nearly all recorded instances and their subsequent analyses originate in Western contexts, prompting doubts about whether this trend is exclusive to the West. We challenge that assumption using data from Southeast Asia. Specifically, we examine Singapore’s initial three youth cases documented in 2025 and 2026, alongside recent events in Indonesia and the Philippines. By utilizing the 3N framework developed by Kruglanski and colleagues, we show that these Asian cases mirror Western examples: young people adopt a mix of Islamist, far-right, far-left, and incel ideologies while engaging deeply with online True Crime Community networks, often after experiencing romantic rejection or bullying. We suggest a ‘violence-first’ sequence consisting of three phases: first, a sense of lost importance generates a desire to matter; second, nihilistic digital spaces frame violence as the means to regain that significance; and third, various ideological elements are selected to justify the violence to which the youth is already attracted. Thus, the eclectic ideology serves as a justification rather than a starting point. Consequently, salad bar extremism should be viewed not as a uniquely Western issue, but as a globalized form of nihilistic violent radicalization. Accordingly, prevention efforts must pivot upstream, focusing on strengthening youth resilience rather than merely disputing specific ideologies.

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