50 years of terrorism research: Still asking the same questions?

Over the past 50 years, psychology has produced a substantial body of research on terrorism, yet many of its central questions remain unresolved. Drawing on a systematic review of more than 3,500 publications, this article examines how psychological research on terrorism has evolved and what this reveals about the discipline itself. The review shows that while theories, methods, and terminology have shifted in response to changing political contexts, recurring debates about terrorist motivation, radicalisation, psychopathology, and prediction continue to dominate the literature. The article argues that terrorism presents psychology with a particularly challenging object of study: a rare, complex, and politically contested phenomenon that resists simple explanation. Rather than focusing solely on what psychology has learned about terrorism, the article reflects on what the history of terrorism research reveals about the strengths and limitations of psychological science when confronting complex social problems.