Political extremism, group membership and personality traits: who accepts violence? / Extremismo político, pertenencia al grupo y rasgos de personalidad: ¿Quién acepta la violencia?

Abstract

Abstract Identity fusion theory proposed that fused individuals have a visceral feeling of oneness with the group and this leads them to engage in radical, violent pro-group behaviours. Other approaches to group extremism link acceptance of violence to right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO). We extended previous research on fusion in three ways. First, by exploring if identity fusion is a significant predictor of the willingness to fight for a group, when controlling for group identification, left-wing authoritarianism (LWA), RWA and SDO. Secondly, we controlled for a membership in a group known for radical action directed at out-groups, namely football hooligans. Finally, we added a second outcome variable, which is the acceptance of violent change of the current social system. The participants were self-described football hooligans (N = 24) and undergraduate students (N = 155). Regression analyses revealed that the strongest predictor of willingness to defend in-group was identity fusion, with RWA and group identification significant as well. RWA and LWA emerged as the strongest predictors of acceptance of violent change. The effect of group membership wasn’t significant.