Violent extremism and political violence are complex and multidimensional phenomena that require the consideration of psychological antecedents across multiple levels of analysis. Despite the growing body of research in this field, existing findings remain fragmented and lack an integrated conceptual framework. The present study aimed to identify, classify, and analyze the psychological antecedents of violent extremism and political violence, and to develop a process-based conceptual model. This study was conducted as a systematic review using a thematic synthesis approach in accordance with PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Studies published between 2000 and 2026 were reviewed. From 120 initially identified records, 55 studies were included in the final analysis after screening and quality assessment using the CASP and JBI tools. Data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-phase thematic analysis.

The findings yielded eight main themes and sixteen subthemes, including psychosocial, motivational, emotional, cognitive, identity–intergroup, moral, personality, and neuropsychological factors. Results indicate that political violence emerges from a multilevel process in which contextual psychosocial conditions operate through motivational–emotional and cognitive–identity mechanisms. Moral disengagement plays a central mediating role in translating extremist tendencies into the legitimization of violence, while personality traits and neuropsychological factors function as moderating influences.

Overall, the findings support an integrated multilevel conceptual model in which political violence is not the product of a single determinant but the outcome of dynamic interactions among psychological, social, and neurocognitive processes. This framework helps reduce conceptual fragmentation in the literature and provides a theoretical basis for future research, risk assessment, and the design of evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies.