What Is Religious Fundamentalism? Asking Scientists Who Study the Construct

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to gain clarity into the definition of religious fundamentalism. Specifically, the goal of the current research is to engage in a multi-method study defining the various aspects of fundamentalist movements across cultures and religions. Social scientists from around the world with recent peer-reviewed journal publications concerning religion and fundamentalism (n = 125) complete a survey where they define the construct and rate how representative 29 items distilled from the existing literature represent the term. Quantitative analyses reveal the scientists find Williamson et al.’s intratextual religious beliefs as the most important aspects of religious fundamentalism. Qualitative analyses reveal no theme is prevalent among the majority of scientists, with one category noted by 40 percent of participants, six by 20 percent to 39 percent of respondents, seven by 10 percent to 19 percent, and four reported in 7 percent to 9 percent of the sample. I integrate findings within existing religious fundamentalism theories and provide research suggestions with the purpose of creating a more comprehensive measure of fundamentalism that could be tailored to different cultural and religious contexts and used in future investigations to help applied practitioners better understand and interact with fundamentalists.