International Journal of Conflict and Violence (IJCV - Universität Bielefeld)
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The Combined Role of Independence in Self-Concept and A Collectivistic Value Orientation in Group-Focused Enmity in Korea
Full text linkPrevious research (Zick et al. 2008) suggested that animosity toward social minorities in Europe is intertwined, forming a syndrome of Group-Focused Enmity (GFE). In the current research, we extended the notion of GFE by identifying the GFE structure in a non-European context (South Korea). We also tested a novel hypothesis that stipulates an interplay between individuals’ self-concept and their value orientation in predicting the overall level of GFE. Two nation-wide surveys in South Korea showed that antagonism toward social minorities that have typically been marginalized and devalued in that country forms GFE while reflecting the unique intergroup context of Korean society. Further, we found as expected that independence in self-concept and a collectivistic value orientation jointly predict lower levels of GFE (Study 1). When political orientation and national identification were taken into account, the predicted interaction was observed only on antagonism toward ingroup minorities but not toward outgroup minorities by race or ethnicity (Study 2). Implications of these findings and directions for research on GFE are discussed
Justice Sensitivity Is Positively and Negatively Related to Prejudice and Discrimination
Full text linkThe trait justice sensitivity captures individual differences in the tendency to perceive injustice and to negatively respond to these perceptions. The tendency to negatively respond to injustice to one’s disadvantage (victim justice sensitivity) was reliably linked to different measures of antisocial behavior and conservative values. Thus, we assumed that victim justice sensitivity should also be positively related to prejudice and discrimination. In contrast, the tendency to negatively respond to injustice to the disadvantage of others (altruistic justice sensitivity), was reliably linked to prosocial behavior. Hence, we assumed that altruistic justice sensitivity should also show negative relations with prejudice and discrimination. In order to test these assumptions, we surveyed justice sensitivity, prejudices against three different groups, and discrimination experiences among N=343 participants (M=26.61 years, 79 percent women) in Germany. We found that victim justice sensitivity predicted more self-perpetrated discrimination. Altruistic justice sensitivity predicted less total prejudice and self-perpetrated discrimination and mediated the link between self-experienced discrimination and prejudice/self-perpetrated discrimination unless age, gender, and education were controlled for. Discrimination can promote discrimination. Future research on correlates and potential risk and protective factors of prejudice and discrimination should also consider justice sensitivity as a moral-related trait
Social Worldviews and Personal Beliefs as Risk Factors for Radicalization: A Comparison Between Muslims and non-Muslims Living in Poland
Full text linkThis paper contributes to the understanding of the radicalization process. Muslim and non-Muslim residents of Poland were compared on their pro-terrorist attitudes toward sacrifice and non-sacrifice terrorism. We observed that acceptance of sacrifice terrorism and non-sacrifice terrorism are distinct but overlapping attitudes. These attitudes are explained by a separate configuration of social worldviews and personal beliefs. We found acceptance of non-sacrifice terrorism to be predicted by individual belief in a hostile world and the perception of low social support, whereas acceptance of sacrifice terrorism is determined by religious fundamentalism and authoritarianism. The separate beliefs underlying these two forms of pro-terrorist attitudes may indicate their different psychological functions. Acceptance of sacrifice terrorism serves as a defense of religion and culture, whereas acceptance of non-sacrifice terrorism serves to release personal frustration. This distinction may be used in terrorism prevention programs and/or de-radicalization programs. We also found that the risk of radicalization increases with the socio-cultural isolation of Muslims, decreases with age, and is particularly high for males
Change in Juvenile Offending Versatility Predicted by Individual, Familial, and Environmental Risks
Full text linkDevelopmental and life-course criminology elucidate the developmental course and change of antisociality over time, considering that longitudinal trajectories differ. Specific relations between risks and different antisociality outcomes are emphasized. We assume that adolescents have different longitudinal trajectories considering the change of offending over time and that risks contribute variably to offending pathways. The current study is based on a German research project in which adolescents (N = 577) were interviewed in two German cities. Based on self-reported crime data, we utilized the slope values of offending versatility (OV) over time as outcome values in regression mixture models capturing the trends for participants over age and exhibiting two components of offending adolescents. We explored the contribution of different risks to OV, defining specific risk patterns: Acceptance of violence and peer delinquency have significant negative effects on the emergence of OV within the group of adolescents with decreasing OV. Acceptance of violence has a significant negative effect, and corporal punishment has a significant positive effect on the emergence of OV within the group of adolescents with increasing or rather stable OV. The results underline the relevance of the violence-related risk factor corporal punishment for the emergence of OV within the last-mentioned group
Identity, Significance, Sensation or Justice? Different Motives which Attract to Radical Ideas
Full text linkPeople can be attracted to radical ideas for different reasons. In the present study, we propose four types of people attracted to such ideas due to different motives: the identity seeker, the significance seeker, the sensation seeker, and the justice seeker. To investigate this model, we conducted five narrative interviews with individuals who had disengaged during the early stages of radicalization (Study 1) and seven semi-structured expert interviews with staff of German deradicalization programmes (Study 2). Data were analyzed using a coding reliability approach to thematic analyses. The proposed typology was not supported in full, but the individual motivations making up the types were all reflected in the data, the most important being the need to belong, personal uncertainty, and need for status. This study’s key finding is that rather than generalizing types of radicalization or types of ideology, it is productive to analyze individuals on the basis of their personal combination of psychological needs and the saliency thereof. We relate this to past research and discuss practical implications
Political and Religious Extremism and Sexual Aggression – New Perspectives from the Workshop on Aggression 2018
Full text linkThis focus section on extremism, radicalization, and sexual aggression presents recent research from two currently important fields of aggression research. It presents five papers that were presented at the Workshop on Aggression at the Psychologische Hochschule Berlin in 2018. The first three address risk factors for radicalization and acceptance of group-related aggressive behavior, namely hate speech against Muslims and collective violent behavior towards perceived out-groups including Jews and Ukrainians. The last two studies address sexual aggression: one examines the prevalence and risk factors for sexual victimization among a large student population in Chile; the other considers risk factors for potential sexual aggression in a German sample of participants with and without BDSM identity. The studies span a broad and international perspective on these different types of aggression, including data from Chile, Germany, and Poland and examining the potential influences of social and individual factors. The papers included in the present focus section demonstrate that both radicalization/extremism and sexual aggression are world-wide problems that require preventive action. They provide theoretical input and empirical findings that will hopefully contribute to prevention at the societal and individual levels
Factors of Individual Radicalization into Extremism, Violence and Terror – the German Contribution in a Context
Full text linkThe question as to why individuals join extremist groups, radicalize or even go on to commit acts of terror have been a focus of research for many decades and a multitude of researchers from different disciplines have advanced theories and hypotheses in an attempt to provide an answer. The German literature on the topic has also offered a number of promising contributions worth discussing in the context of general international literature. We begin by examining factors pertaining to the individual as such (personality features, cognitions and emotions) and then move on to address theories that focus on the interaction between individuals and their social environment and long-term socialization processes
Media of Contempt: Social Media Consumption Predicts Normative Acceptance of Anti-Muslim Hate Speech and Islamoprejudice
Full text linkThe new era of information technology brings new opportunities but also poses new threats. In our paper, we examine whether a shift from traditional print and broadcasting to new online media results in the increased normalization of hate speech towards minorities, and whether this change can subsequently increase prejudice towards minorities. Our research uses data from a representative two-wave longitudinal survey of Polish adults. In wave 1 (N = 1060), data on respondents’ primary sources of information about the world (TV, newspapers, radio, online, social media, blogs) was collected. Wave 2 (N = 628), conducted six months later, included measures of perceived normativity of anti-Muslim hate speech and Islamophobia. We found that respondents who were frequent social media users expressed higher levels of Islamoprejudice and perceived higher normativity of anti-Muslim hate speech than the respondents who got their news from traditional mass media. We also found that an increase in perceived normativity of anti-Muslim hate speech can act as one of the mechanisms through which use of social media is linked to higher Islamoprejudice
A Threat to Open Societies? Conceptualizing the Radicalization of Society
Full text linkWhich are the factors that favor societal radicalization? Few studies in international and national radicalization research have been directly interested in investigating the societal level and discussing the impact of radicalized groups, milieus and strata on society and its potential radicalization. This article provides on overview of current research and discusses factors favoring the radicalization of societies. The latter arises when the legitimacy of the political system is called into question and a society witnesses a departure from prevailing social norms in political dealings, especially if the use of political violence is no longer rejected. All in all, radicalized individuals, groups, milieus or strata can hold the potential for radicalizing societies. Increasing and incremental socio-political changes can lead to decreasing social cohesion. In view of this possibility, the authors call for strengthening social resilience and civilizing the public debate