Terrorism - revision

Radicalisation

Process of going from a normal person to enacting a terrorist attack.

Extremism is the ideology behind this, your beliefs fuel the terrorism.

Factors affecting radicalisation

1. The process

2. Socialisation, peers, and family are very important, identity issues

3. Quest for significance in their lives

4. Deindividuation

5. Mortality salience

6. Altruism

Radicalisation remains a hard problem for 2 reasons:

1. Multifinality

2. Equifinality

How terrorists are described in the literature

• Strongly nationalistic

• While typically male, 15% of all suicide bombers have been women

• Motivation to become a suicide bomber often seen as a tool to seek revenge for the death of a loved one, restore honour, religion, pressure, or exploitation

• Suicide bombers seek to make their life personally significant

Are terrorists heterogenous or homogenous

Heterogenous as they have diverse backgrounds, motivation and idealogies - there is no single profile that fits all terrorists

Social Identity Theory

Psychological theory developed by Tajfel and Turner in the 1970s that explains how people’s sense of who they are is based on their group membership.

Key components of social identity theory

1. Categorisation

2. Adopting group identity

3. Viewing in-group more positively than out-group

4. Striving to maintain positive social identity

Categorisation

People naturally categorise themselves and others into social groups which help individuals understand and make sense of their social environment.

Adopting group identity

People define part of their self-concept through group affiliations.

Individuals adopt the identity of the group they belong to

• They start to see themselves as part of an ‘in group’ and distinguish themselves from ‘out groups’

  • The group’s characteristics, values, and norms become part of their personal identity

Viewing in-group more positively than out-group

People compare their own in-group with other groups and tend to view their own group more positively.

• This can lead to in-group favouritism and potential bias against out-groups

Striving to maintain positive social identity

Group membership provides emotional significance and self-worth.

• Individuals may enhance their self-esteem by highlighting their group’s positive attributes

Social identity theory suggests…

Our social identities are fluid and can change based on context, and that individuals aren’t just passive recipients of group identity but actively construct and negotiate their group memberships

Berger (2019) 

Utilised social identity theory to propose a definition of extremism as the belief that an in-group’s success or survival can never be separated from the need for hostile action against an out-group

• Social identity can be understood as the part of an individual’s self-concept that is derived from membership within personally relevant social groups

Social identity theory in terrorism

Terrorist groups create strong in-group identities that sharply distinguish members from out-groups

• Extreme ideological narratives provide a sense of meaning and belonging

• Group identity becomes more important that individual identity

• Members develop strong loyalty and willingness to sacrifice for group goals

• Individuals feel marginalised or threatened by perceived out-groups

• Terrorist groups offer alternative identity with clear purpose

• The dehumanisation of out-groups makes violence seem justifiable

McCauley 2002

No differences in personality between the gang and the control subjects.

Many were well-educated and originally had tried peaceful means to reach their goal of getting American nuclear weapons out of Europe.

Multifinality

Where one factor can lead to several outcomes, e.g. exposure to extremist content could lead to:

• Radical views

• Involvement in terrorism

• Involvement in anti-terrorism activities

Equifinality

When the same outcome can come from multiple predictors, e.g. radical mindset can cause:

• Political discontent

• Economic troubles

• Religious indoctrination

Typical terrorist characteristics

• High affective valence regarding an ideologial issue

• A personal stake - e.g. strongly perceived oppression, need for vengence

• Low cognitive flexibility

• Low tolerance for ambiguity

• Elevated tendency toward attribution error

• Capacity to suppress instinctive and learned moral constraints against harming innocents