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Scholars have extensively discussed the topic of “online radicalization,” often seeking to understand the form and function of online extremist material. However, this work has neglected to examine the role that the Internet plays alongside individual personality factors in the process through which someone develops violent extremist cognitions. This article aims to extend the understanding of the role of personality differences in the effect of exposure to extremist material online. In this study, we experimentally measure the short-term psychological consequences of exposure to extremist material on extremist cognitions. We use a between-group experimental design in which participants are shown extremist propaganda with either pre- or post-counter messages. Our results indicate that trait personality, and specifically aggression, may be more influential than exposure to extremist propaganda in influencing extremist cognitions. We discuss the implications of these results in the context of future research directions.

Between a rock and a hard place of geopolitically sensitive threats -critical incidents and decision inertia http://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/7193/ Article LJMU has developed LJMU Research Online for users to access the research output of the University more effectively. AbstractThis paper analyses the management of high-profile geopolitically sensitive threats (verifying potential terrorist identity, hostage rescue and national/international security). Defining features of such cases include decision makers' ability to prospectively model competing binary (e.g., do/do not use lethal force), categorical (i.e., choosing between options -e.g., ground forces or unmanned weapons system) or ordinal (e.g., level of acceptable collateral damage) future scenarios in which they must select between options and where every outcome looks aversive and high risk (i.e., 'damned if you do or damned if you don't decisions'). A frequent consequence of such prospective calculations is 'decision inertia' (i.e., a failure to execute an important, irrevocable decision resulting in non-optimal consequences), or 'implementation failure' (i.e., a failure to make a choice). This paper provides a theoretical platform from which to view, understand and, most importantly, minimize decision inertia and failures to act. By combining the benefit of the theoretical framework and hindsight knowledge of the analyzed critical incidents, the paper also helps identify past decisional mistakes, areas of improvement, in order to inform live assessment and management of similar geopolitical threats in the future.

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