Understanding extremist personality: the mediating influence of Regulatory Modes and the need for cognitive closure in the Quest for Significance

Introduction Understanding the psychological mechanisms underlying extremist personality helps explain why some individuals endorse rigid or polarized positions. Extremist personality is conceptualized as a self-regulatory tendency characterized by motivational imbalance, cognitive inflexibility, and strong commitment to salient goals. This study examined how the quest for significance, regulatory modes (Locomotion and Assessment), and the need for cognitive closure relate to extremist personality. Methods A sample of 693 Argentine adults (M age = 41.9, SD = 15.42, range: 18–85; 61.4% women) completed an online questionnaire assessing quest for significance, regulatory modes, need for cognitive closure, and extremist personality. Structural equation modeling was conducted to test direct and indirect effects. Results Quest for significance positively predicted extremist personality both directly (β = 0.232, p < 0.001) and indirectly through Locomotion (β = 0.190, p = 0.001). Locomotion strongly predicted extremism (β = 0.464, p < 0.001; total effect = 0.576). Assessment was not significantly related to extremism (β = −0.048, p = 0.516). Cognitive closure weakly predicted extremism (β = 0.083–0.084, p > 0.05) and did not mediate the relationship between significance and extremism, despite being strongly predicted by significance (β = 0.160–0.385, p < 0.001). Discussion Findings suggest that motivational urgency and action-oriented self-regulation are key mechanisms associated with extremist personality, highlighting the central role of locomotion rather than evaluative orientation or cognitive closure in explaining extremist tendencies.