Countering radicalization: An empirical examination from a life psychological perspective.

Abstract

Life psychology has emerged as an integrative framework theory that has been applied in interventions preventing and countering radicalization processes. Central to this theory is the experience of living in a safe and secure sociocultural context, designated as life attachment and conceptualized as a root cause of radicalization. Furthermore, the theory emphasizes the interplay between generic life tasks (e.g., participating in community activities) and skills (e.g., taking one's own and others' perspectives into consideration) through which the individual can develop and reach a good-enough life attachment. A deficiency in development of life skills is a risk factor, as it functions as an underlying mechanism regarding the relationship between insecure life attachment and extremism. Through cross-national samples from the United States (n ϭ 322) and Denmark (n ϭ 364), the present article operationalizes and validates the central concepts of life skills and life attachment. Furthermore, these measures are examined in a statistical model hypothesizing insecure life attachment as a root cause in relation to violent extremism and deficient life skills as a risk factor. Consequently, the study draws attention to how generic life skills can be developed as a way of preventing and countering radicalization. Public Significance StatementThis study suggests that an insecure sociocultural embeddedness can be a root factor for initiating radicalized trajectories. In addition, the developmental level of one's life skills can diminish or enhance this possible relationship. Consequently, interventions to develop individual life skills could be a way of preventing and countering radicalization.

Group membership and radicalization: A cross-national investigation of collective self-esteem underlying extremism

“…The contextual embeddedness of the individual has been theorized as central in regard to the initiation of radicalized trajectories (Doosje et al, 2016; Hogg, 2012; Ozer & Bertelsen, 2019). That is, if the social conditions in life do not facilitate the possibility of an acceptable life, then people are more inclined to endorse radical societal changes (Obaidi, Bergh, Akrami, & Anjum, 2019).…”

“…These theoretical developments have emphasized social psychological mechanisms among the general population as central factors predicting or influencing radicalization (Doosje et al, 2016; Horgan, 2005). That is, developments in a generically based psychology of radicalization elucidate the general psychological mechanisms at play in radicalization processes, emphasizing the dynamic interplay between the contextual situation and the individual (Gøtzsche-Astrup, 2018; Ozer & Bertelsen, 2019).…”

“…The dynamic interaction between the individual and his or her context has been key in recent psychological theory of radicalization (Doosje et al, 2016; Gøtzsche-Astrup, 2018). Indeed, unfavorable sociocultural embeddedness characterized by uncertainty, discrimination, deprivation, and threats to one’s way of life can make normal individuals vulnerable to various social influences and sensitive to radicalization (Doosje, Loseman, & Van den Bos, 2013; Obaidi, Bergh, Sidanius, & Thomsen, 2018; Ozer & Bertelsen, 2019).…”

“…Group membership and identification can play a central role in relation to experiences of societal uncertainty and threat by providing clear and bounded prototypical categories for oneself and for others (Hogg, 2012). These group dynamics can lead to a mobilization toward reducing the origin of the unfavorable context by endorsing comprehensive societal change with no concern for human coexistence and sometimes even supporting the use of illegal or violent means in relation to this quest (Ozer & Bertelsen, 2019).…”

The moral compass and life skills in navigating radicalization processes: Examining the interplay among life skills, moral disengagement, and extremism

“…In regard to radicalization, both the agency aspect and the structure aspect of life skills have emerged in research as central risk factors of radicalization processes (Ozer & Bertelsen, 2019). That is, deficient life skills might create frustration from not being able to sufficiently handle tasks and challenges in life, resulting in a life that is not perceived as being good enough.…”