Impact of Fanaticism – Fanaticism is a word that comes from the Latin fanaticus, which means anger or mental disorder. This is an illustration that the anger that exists from someone who is fanaticism is an overflow because they do not have the same understanding as other people. Fanaticism is an understanding or behavior that shows excessive interest in something.
According to Winston Churchill, a person with fanaticism will not be able to change his mindset and will not change his direction. Someone who is fanatical can be said to have strict standards in his mindset and tends not to listen to opinions or ideas that he considers contradictory.
Definition of Fanaticism
Fanaticism comes from the Latin “fanaticus” (ecstasy, enthusiasm, passionate), “fanum” (shrine, temple, place of worship), and “fano” (devotion). Based on the terminology, fanaticism can be interpreted as enthusiastic and passionate devotion to a holy place or temple.
Psychologists then reformulated the definition of fanaticism, which is an attempt to pursue or defend something in extreme and passionate ways, exceeding the limits of reasonableness (Solehah, 2014).
The same thing was stated by Achmad Mubarok, who stated that fanaticism is a term used to refer to a belief or a view of something, positive or negative, a view that does not have a theoretical backing or reality footing, but is deeply held, so that it is difficult to straighten or changed. Fanaticism is usually irrational, even rational arguments are difficult to use to straighten it out (Mubarok, 2006).
Fanaticism can be referred to as an orientation and sentiment that influences a person in the following ways.
- Do something, take something, or give something;
- Think and decide;
- Perceiving and understanding something; And
- Feel.
Based on the psychology dictionary, a simple formulation of fanaticism is made, namely an attitude of excessive enthusiasm towards a point of view or a cause, usually intended for insulting purposes (Chaplin, 1968).
Psychologically, someone who is a fanatic is usually unable to understand anything that is outside of himself, does not understand the problems of other people or groups, does not understand understandings or philosophies other than what they believe in.
A clear sign of bigotry is the inability to perceive the individual characteristics of others who are outside the group, right or wrong.
Fanaticism on the other hand is often referred to as an understanding or a logical consequence of social pluralism or world heterogeneity and is a form of solidarity towards people who share the same opinion, and dislike people who are different.
It is a mistake if people think fanaticism is something that is true, someone who is too fanatical is usually because he only interprets things from only one scientific point of view, it can be said that he lacks understanding of other sciences from that society.
Religious fanatics actually do not come from religion itself, but usually are an extension of ethnic or social class fanatics. In essence, fanaticism is an effort to fight against the dominant group from minority groups who are generally oppressed. Minority can be in the sense of the number of people (quantity), it can also be in the sense of a minority role (quality).
Currently, the life of religious people is considered to have not been able to reach the point of maturity. In a short period of time there were many conflicts, even causing wars for only one reason, differences in views in worship and lack of tolerance to maintain harmony in social relations.
If examined more deeply, the conflict between religious communities did not just start recently, but had occurred since ancient times (1095–1291). At that time, the Crusades took place, namely the war between Christians and Muslims to reclaim Jerusalem and the holy land. In a social context, the Crusades were the biggest religious conflict to this century, although it was not a conflict due to fanaticism (Iditya, 2012).
The biggest factor that creates chaos in the life of religious people is fanaticism. This understanding can harm social harmony. Fanaticism is the enemy of freedom.
That is, respect each other in terms of beliefs and other beliefs. The life of religious people itself is a concept of an order of differences in beliefs adopted in a social life of a society that actually lives must go hand in hand and not interfere with each other.
Based on the explanation above, it can be concluded that fanaticism is an attitude of joy that is expressed excessively. Individual reactions then accumulate systematically and form enormous energy, so that the behavior cannot be stopped.
Types of Fanaticism
1. Religious fanaticism
Religious fanaticism is an attitude of deep and strong belief in religion. This often results in conflict in society, and it is difficult to mitigate it. The views of other people who are fanatical about religion regard people who have different beliefs from theirs as a threat.
2. Idol Fanaticism
To idolize something is certainly a natural thing. However, this can become a threat when these habits turn into activities that threaten security, violate privacy, deceive, and even hurt yourself and others for the sake of someone you idolize.
Someone who idolizes something will definitely model their behavior, right down to the style of dress. It also has the impact of losing one’s own identity, as well as threatening mental health.
3. Ideological fanaticism
Fanaticism towards an ideology is spread by radical and extremist groups which now starts with internet media which is easily accessible by various groups. This causes people to become anxious and easily influenced by these radical groups.
4. Ethnic Fanaticism
Ethnic fanaticism is an attitude of favoring a particular ethnicity and considering other ethnicities inferior. They judge people by the color of their skin and their ethnic origin. This has an impact on feelings of anxiety and fear when seeing strangers (xenophobia) and makes generalizations for ethnic groups which are called stereotypes.
Fanaticism towards an ethnicity if it continues to roll can have the impact of being a trigger to break the unity of a nation.
5. Sports fanaticism
Sports fanaticism is a form of love for sports teams, one example is football fans who show their love for the team by watching matches directly in the stadium or outside the stadium to support the team.
Characteristics of Fanaticism
1. Difficult to Accept Opinions from Others
Fanaticism is the condition of someone who finds it difficult to accept opinions that are different from others. They are more closed to hear the opinions of others, also tend to oppose something that is not in line with their thoughts.
Feuds and conflicts often occur because of these differences of opinion. They cannot think logically and rationally, it is also difficult to evaluate their thoughts.
2. Having a Narrow View
People who have the nature of fanaticism do not have rational thinking. They also have narrow views. They tend to respond with emotion, not with fact-based thinking. They think their group is the most righteous.
Impact of Fanaticism
1. Psychological Disorders
If someone who is fanatical about something starts to annoy other people, this can include fanaticism towards psychological disorders. Someone who is fanatic will think that they are right and have a detrimental effect on others, for example making other people feel hurt, both physically and mentally.
2. Aggressive Behavior
Fanaticism results in aggressive behavior. Fanaticism makes a person unable to control himself over his attitude towards others. They are not aware that what they say and do can hurt and harm other people.
3. Shunned by Friends
Someone who is fanatic will be shunned by his social circle of friends because he does not want to accept differences. This was chosen because it avoids conflict to feud.
Fanaticism Prevention
1. Avoid to argue
By inviting someone who is fanatical to dialogue, take as much benefit from the discussion as possible, but avoid arguing because people who are fanatical have a strong defense for their opinion.
2. Think Rationally
To avoid fanaticism, it can be prevented by thinking rationally, critically and logically. This is because facts and dogmas are the key to avoiding fanaticism.
The Psychological View of Fanaticism
Fanaticism can be found in every layer of society, in developed and underdeveloped countries, in intellectual groups and lay people, in religious communities and atheist societies. the conversation that often arises is the source of fanaticism, human nature or because it is engineered. Psychologists have different views on this.
Some of the expert opinions include the following.
Some psychologists say that bigotry is a natural human nature (fitrah), arguing that anywhere in human society you can find individuals or groups who have fanatical attitudes.
It is said that fanaticism is a logical consequence of social pluralism or world heterogeneity, because fanaticism cannot arise without an encounter between two social groups.
In this plurality, humans discover the fact that there are people who belong to one group and there are those outside their group. This pluralism then gave birth to the grouping ” in group ” and ” out group “.
Fanaticism in this perception is seen as a form of solidarity with people who agree and dislike people with different views. Dislike is not based on logical arguments, but simply dislike the dislike of the unlike (what is disliked).
This fanatical attitude resembles a bias when a person can no longer see a problem clearly and logically, due to a distortion of cognition (damage to the perceptual system).
If the root of the problem is traced, fanaticism – in the sense of blind love for those who are liked and antipathy for those who are disliked – can be linked to narcissism (feeling of excessive self-love), which starts with self-awe, then prides itself on the strengths that exist within oneself or one’s group, and then at a certain level it can develop into dislike, then hatred for other people, or people who are different from them. This trait is a manifestation of narrow egoism.
The second opinion says that fanaticism is not human nature, but is something that can be engineered. The reason for this opinion is that children everywhere can get along well with other children, regardless of skin color or religion. Children from various nationalities can get along naturally before being implanted with a view by their parents or society.
If fanaticism is innate in humans, symptoms of fanaticism can be found simultaneously in any place and at any time. In fact, fanaticism appears scattered and for various reasons.
Another theory states that fanaticism is rooted in the nature of aggression as meant by Sigmund Freud when he called the instinct eros (wanting to live) and the instinct tanatos (ready to die). However, there is another, more plausible theory, namely that fanaticism is rooted in actual life experience. Experiences of failure and frustration, especially in childhood, can build up emotional levels resembling resentment and aggression toward success. That success is then personified into someone else who is successful.
Someone who always fails sometimes feels disliked by other people who are successful. That feeling then develops into feeling threatened by a successful person who will destroy him. The emergence of ultra-extreme groups in a society usually begins with the marginalization of the role of a group of people in the social (economic and political) system of society when these people live.
When Islamic groups were politically marginalized in Indonesia during the New Order era, especially when the Catholic Christian elite group effectively controlled Indonesia’s development, many Islamic groups felt threatened and they became fanatical.
Towards the end of the New Order, Christian Catholic groups began to be eliminated, so that the cabinet and parliament were called ijo royo-royo (many of them were Muslims). When it was the Christians’ turn to feel threatened, they then became extreme, aggressive and destructive, as happened in Kupang, Ambon and Poso.
The fanatic’s way of thinking stems from the feeling that other people don’t like him, even threaten his existence. These feelings developed to such an extent, that he became frustrated.
Frustration breeds fear and distrust of others. Furthermore, that feeling develops into hatred for other people. As a person who feels threatened, he is psychologically driven to defend himself against threats. On the principle that it is better to strike first than to be attacked, that person becomes aggressive.
This theory can be used to analyze aggressive behavior. According to some of these theories, it can be concluded that to unravel the fanatical behavior of a person or group of people, it is not enough to use one theory because fanaticism can be caused by many factors, not just one.
The emergence of fanatical behavior in a person or group of people in a place or at a certain time. it may be a logical result of the local cultural system, but it may also be a manifestation of self-fulfillment motives for individual or social psychological needs that have not been fulfilled for too long.
Conclusion
Psychology views fanaticism as a complex reaction which is an accumulation of one’s own potential, environment, and knowledge which generally has a negative connotation. How to treat bigoted behavior is carried out systematically by a psychologist.
The approach taken goes through several stages, namely tracing the source or estuary of the problem of fanaticism, sorting out alternatives that might be chosen as a way out, coaching or therapeutic services, assessing the results of services, and providing recommendations and following up.