Sociopsychological correlates of militant extremist beliefs in a postconflict society: The importance of ethnocentrism and quality of interethnic contacts

Abstract

This study investigates the attitudinal and motivational bases of militant extremist beliefs in a postconflict society ( N = 600; 51% female). Militant extremist mindset (MEM) measures of proviolence, divine power, utopianism, vile world, and West, together with the Ethos of Conflict- Grudge Scale (EOC-grudge), were used to assess militant-extremist beliefs. Data about the socioeconomic status (SES) of participants, ethnocentrism, intergroup contact, trust in the system, and the level of conflict in the sampled areas were also collected. The main hypotheses were that extremist beliefs are associated with a high level of ethnocentrism, low socioeconomic status, decreased intergroup contact, low trust in the system, and recent intergroup conflict. A structural model in which all relations between the measures were simultaneously tested showed that recent intergroup conflict was related to the most malignant aspect of MEM—proviolence—predominantly through negative experiences with members of other ethnicities. Ethnocentrism was strongly related to higher levels of grudge and excuse. Self-assessed socioeconomic status was related to grudge only but taking into account all other variables, positively. Finally, trust in the political and social system was not found to have a relationship with militant-extremist beliefs.

The relationship between closed‐mindedness and militant extremism in a post‐conflict society

“…Post-conflict society in this region appears to be characterized by a high level of Grudge, resentment, and bitterness. Some contextual and social mechanisms that facilitate such political radicalization have been detected and discussed in our previous work (Stankov et al, 2020). This facilitation, as our present findings show, is especially likely in those individuals (and certain social groups, such as football supporters and various right-wing oriented groups, Međedović et al, 2020) prone to develop a closed system of beliefs.…”

“…All materials, data, and code are available at https://osf.io/nea73/. The same sample was used in two publications: Stankov et al (2019) and Stankov et al (2020). This study explores a different research question and the present analyses have not been reported before.…”

“…Although we agree with statements such as "Terrorists are made, they are not born" (Moghaddam, 2006, p. 45), it seems equally apparent to us that, holding the context constant, some individuals may be more prone than others to embrace violence to achieve political goals. Accordingly, while in a recent article we sought to understand the role of certain social and contextual factors that facilitate MEM (Stankov et al, 2020), here the focus is on further exploration of dispositional factors which, in the context of pronounced political radicalization, make some individuals more prone to adopting the three components of mind-set that characterize militant extremists: Nastiness, Grudge, and Excuse.…”

Ideology, personality disorders and the militant extremist mindset

“…Most recently, Stankov et al (2020) tested and supported the hypotheses that extremist beliefs are associated with a high level of ethnocentrism, low socioeconomic status, decreased intergroup contact, low trust in the system, and recent intergroup conflict.…”