Empirical Evidence for Significance Quest Theory

Abstract

This chapter examines cutting-edge empirical evidence related to the psychology of terrorism. This evidence is gleaned through a variety of methods that include surveys and experiments carried out in the laboratory and in the field. It contains samples from a variety of locations and conflict zones such as the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States. Different types of data are described that bear on relations between variables identified in the authors’ 3N theory of radicalization. This includes published evidence that relates individuals’ feelings of humiliation and significance loss to their tendency to identify as members of a collectivity and to their support for violence. Not only attesting to the power of the network to solidify individuals’ world views, the chapter also shows that the relation between significance loss and extreme attitudes is qualified by the group to which the individual belongs.