Luisa Batalha - Pathways to the extreme: Psychological mechanisms underlying radicalisation

Описание: Alienation and identity are increasingly being mentioned in the literature as explanatory factors of extremism and radicalisation but empirical work testing these assumptions is scant. This study investigated the role of social alienation and cultural identity in explaining violent extremism in addition to age, ethnic discrimination and social dominance orientation (SDO). Using an ethnically diverse sample, a social alienation scale was developed, yielding five factors. Results of regression analyses showed that the variables that best predicted extremism were age, bicultural identity integration, SDO, and the social alienation dimensions of social rejection, normlessness and cultural disengagement. The effect of cultural disengagement was moderated by bicultural identity integration such that only those who engaged with Australian culture but had not succeeded well in integrating both the dominant and ethnic culture in the self, were more extremist.