Social Attitudes as Mediators of the Link Between Personality and Militant Extremists Thinking Pattern
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47152/ziksi201502254Keywords:
Militant Extremist Mind Set, dark traits, schizotypy, social attitudes, conservatismAbstract
Militant Extremist Mind Set (MEMS) represents a thinking pattern distinctive for ideological extremists and terrorists. However, empirical data show that it exists in the general population to some extent as well. MEMS is operationalized via three factors: Proviolence, Vile World and Divine Power. Previous research has indicated that MEMS factors are related to schizotypy, psychopathy and sadism. They are also associated with conservative attitudes, except Vile World, which is partially related to liberal beliefs, too. Since personality traits develop early in ontogenesis, whereas social attitudes form in early adulthood, it can be assumed that attitudes can mediate the influence of personality on extremist beliefs.
Participants were selected from the community sample in Serbia (N = 541, 72% females). They filled in the following questionnaires: 1) SD3 scale which measures psychopathy, Machiavellianism and narcissism; 2) SSIS, a short measure of sadism; 3) DELTA 10, a scale that assesses schizotypal characteristics; 4) SDI-46, a scale that explores social attitudes (it measures a broad range of lexically derived attitudes: Tradition-oriented Religiousness, Unmitigated Self-Interest, Communal Rationalism, Subjective Spirituality and Egalitarianism) and MEMS-24, the instrument which measures militant extremist beliefs. Results confirmed findings from previous studies regarding the associations between personality traits and MEMS: sadism was related to the Proviolence MEMS factor, manipulative tendencies correlated with the Vile World MEMS factor, and schizotypy predicted the Divine Power MEMS factor. Proviolence was predicted by the pattern of attitudes suggesting conservative ideology; Vile World was associated with the heightened religiosity and egalitarianism, while Divine Power's variance was explained almost exclusively by religiosity. A structural model was constructed in which personality traits were treated as exogenous, attitudes as mediators, and MEMS factors as endogenous variables. Results showed that the model adequately describes the empirical data. Results also revealed a complex pattern of relations between the constructs: the influences of sadism and Machiavellianism on MEMS were not mediated by attitudes; the mediation of the links between schizotypy, psychopathy and MEMS was partial, while narcissism had no direct influence on MEMS beliefs. Generally, research results provided a detailed description of personal and attitudinal characteristics that facilitate the endorsement of militant extremist thinking patterns. These findings can help researchers and practitioners in detecting and preventing the development of extremist beliefs, which might contribute to the emergence of ideologically based violence.
References
Arvan, M. (2011). Bad news for conservatives? Moral judgments and the Dark Triad personality traits: A correlational study. Neuroethics, 6, 307–318. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12152-011-9140-6
Barron, D., Morgan, K., Towell, T., Altemeyer, B., & Swami, V. (2014). Associations between schizotypy and belief in conspiracist ideation. Personality and Individual Differences, 70, 156–159. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.06.040
Breslin, M. J., & Lewis, C. A. (2015). Schizotypy and religiosity: The magic of prayer. Archive for the Psychology of Religion, 37, 84–97. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/15736121-12341300
Caspi, A. (2000). The child is father of the man: Personality continuities from childhood to adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 158–172. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.78.1.158
Golec de Zavala, A., Cislak, A., & Wesołowska, E. (2010). Political conservatism, need for cognitive closure, and intergroup hostility. Political Psychology, 31, 521–541. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9221.2010.00767.x
Fehr, E., Glätzle-Rützler, D., & Sutter, M. (2013). The development of egalitarianism, altruism, spite and parochialism in childhood and adolescence. European Economic Review, 64, 369–383. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2013.09.006
Fraley, R. C., Griffin, B. N., Belsky, J., & Roisman, G. I. (2012). Developmental antecedents of political ideology: A longitudinal investigation from birth to age 18 years. Psychological Science, 23(11), 1425–1431. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797612440102
Ginges, J., Hansen, I., & Norenzayan, A. (2009). Religion and support for suicide attacks. Psychological Science, 20, 224–230. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02270.x
Jones, D. N., & Paulhus, D. L. (2014). Introducing the Short Dark Triad (SD3): A brief measure of dark personality traits. Assessment, 21, 28–41. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191113514105
Horn, J. L. (1965). A rationale and test for the number of factors in factor analysis. Psychometrika, 30, 179–185. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02289447
Kirwin, M., & Cho, W. (2009). Weak states and political violence in sub-Saharan Africa (Afrobarometer Working Paper No. 111).
Knežević, G. (2003). Koreni amoralnosti. Institut za kriminološka i sociološka istraživanja; Institut za psihologiju.
Knežević, G., Opačić, G., Kutlešić, V., & Savić, D. (2005). Preserving psychoticism as a basic personality trait: A proposed reconceptualization. Paper presented at the 113th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association.
Knežević, G., Opačić, G., Kutlešić, V., & Savić, D. (2005). Preserving psychoticism as a basic personality trait: A proposed reconceptualization. In Book of abstracts (p. 176). 113th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association.
Lorenzo-Seva, U., & Ferrando, P. J. (2006). FACTOR: A computer program to fit the exploratory factor analysis model. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 38, 88–91. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03192753
Loza, W. (2007). The psychology of extremism and terrorism: A Middle-Eastern perspective. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 12, 141–155. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2006.09.001
McCauley, C., & Moskalenko, S. (2008). Mechanisms of political radicalization: Pathways towards terrorism. Terrorism and Political Violence, 20, 415–433. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09546550802073367
Međedović, J., & Petrović, B. (2015). The Dark Tetrad: Structural properties and location in the personality space. Journal of Individual Differences, 36, 228–236. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001/a000179
Međedović, J., Petrović, B., Knežević, G., & Lazarević, Lj. (2015). “Dark” traits and schizotypy as personality roots of militant extremists thinking pattern. In Book of abstracts (p. 40). 11th Days of Applied Psychology.
Merari, A., Diamant, I., Bibi, A., Broshi, Y., & Zakin, G. (2009). Personality characteristics of “self martyrs”/“suicide bombers” and organizers of suicide attacks. Terrorism and Political Violence, 22, 87–101. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09546550903409312
Neundorf, A., Smets, K., & García-Albacete, G. M. (2013). Homemade citizens: The development of political interest during adolescence and young adulthood. Acta Politica, 48, 92–116. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/ap.2012.23
O’Meara, A., Davies, J., & Hammond, S. (2011). The psychometric properties and utility of the Short Sadistic Impulse Scale (SSIS). Psychological Assessment, 23, 523–531. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022400
Paulhus, D. L. (2014). Toward a taxonomy of dark personalities. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 23, 421–426. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721414547737
Petrović, B., & Međedović, J. (2011). Struktura socijalnih stavova baziranih na leksičkom pristupu na srpskom govornom području. Sociologija, 53, 195–212.
Petrović, B., & Međedović, J. (2015). Two forms of radicalization: Militant extremists mindset as a conservative ideology mediated by the ethos of conflict. In Knjiga rezimea (pp. 289–290). IV konferencija Savremeni trendovi u psihologiji.
Sageman, M. (2004). Understanding terror networks. University of Pennsylvania Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.9783/9780812206791
Saucier, G. (2000). Isms and the structure of social attitudes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 366–385. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.78.2.366
Saucier, G. (2013). Isms dimensions: Toward a more comprehensive and integrative model of belief-system components. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 104, 921–939. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031968
Saucier, G., Akers, L. G., Shen-Miller, S., Knežević, G., & Stankov, L. (2009). Patterns of thinking in militant extremism. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 4, 256–271. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6924.2009.01123.x
Silke, A. (2003). Becoming a terrorist. In A. Silke (Ed.), Terrorists, victims and society: Psychological perspectives on terrorism and its consequences (pp. 29–53). John Wiley & Sons. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470713600.ch2
Shirtcliff, E. A., Vitacco, M. J., Graf, A. R., Gostisha, A. J., Merz, J. L., & Zahn-Waxler, C. (2009). Neurobiology of empathy and callousness: Implications for the development of antisocial behavior. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 27, 137–171. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.862
Stankov, L., Higgins, D., Saucier, G., & Knežević, G. (2010). Contemporary militant extremism: A linguistic approach to scale development. Psychological Assessment, 22, 246–258. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017372
Stankov, L., Saucier, G., & Knežević, G. (2010a). Militant extremist mind-set: Proviolence, vile world, and divine power. Psychological Assessment, 22, 70–86. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016925
United Nations. (2004). Report of the Secretary-General’s high-level panel (A/59/565).
van der Tempel, J., & Alcock, J. E. (2015). Relationships between conspiracy mentality, hyperactive agency detection, and schizotypy: Supernatural forces at work? Personality and Individual Differences, 82, 136–141. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.03.010
Van Hiel, A. (2012). A psycho-political profile of party activists and left-wing and right-wing extremists. European Journal of Political Research, 51, 166–203. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.2011.01991.x
Victoroff, J. (2005). The mind of the terrorist: A review and critique of psychological approaches. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 49, 3–42. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0022002704272040
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright over their published works and grant the publisher a non-exclusive right to publish the article, to be identified as its first publisher in cases of reuse, and to distribute it in all forms and media. The articles will be distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution International (CC BY 4.0) license, unless otherwise stated.
