Katarzyna Jasko, David Webber, Arie W. Kruglanski Social Networks Moderate the Effects of Quest for Significance on Violent Extremism Katarzyna Jasko, David Webber, Arie W. Kruglanski

Political violence and collective grievances Aggressive reaction to the negative treatment perceived by the actor to be unfair or undeserved: Minority economic discrimination Perception of discrimination Marginalization Collective narcissism Negative meta-stereotypes and perception of infrahumanization (Piazza, 2006, 2011; Victoroff, Adelman, & Matthews, 2012; Lyons-Padilla, Gelfand, Mirahmadi, Farooq, & van Egmond, 2015; Golec de Zavala et al., 2009, 2013, 2016; Kamans, Gordijn, Oldenhuis, & Otten, 2009; Kteily & Bruneau, 2017)

Political violence and personal frustrations Personal failures and relationship problems (Jasko, LaFree, & Kruglanski, 2016) Personal shame and humiliation (Webber et al., 2017) Feelings of uncertainty and meaninglessness (Hogg & Adelman, 2013)

Quest for significance theory (Kruglanski et al., 2013, 2017) Humiliation, rejection, unfair treatment, … Loss of personal significance An aversive motivational state Fighting for a political cause may offer an appealing path to significance: Affirmation of important values Direct way of restoring significance

Social context matters Main effect of radical social contexts on violence (Ralphs, Medina, & Aldridge, 2009; Holman, 2016; Sageman, 2004; Jasko et al., 2017) Moderating effect on the relation between quest for significance and support for violence In radicalized social contexts: Collective grievances are a common denominator  The quest for collective significance a more important driver of violence Idiosyncratic, personal experiences less salient  Weaker role of individual loss of significance

Social context matters I suddenly understood that I wasn't alone, that what I had considered personal embarrassment was something that was part of this whole larger experience. Problems that you felt were happening to you alone probably were your fault. But if it's happening to other people, then it's a social problem and not just a personal problem.

Radical Social Network Model Collective LoS Violent extremism Individual LoS Radical Social Network

Possible mediator: Ideological extremism Collective LoS Violent extremism Individual LoS Radical Social Network

Overview of the studies Samples from social networks that were more and less radical Study 1: Sri Lanka Study 2: Morocco Study 3: Indonesia Design: Collective narcissism (Collective LoS) Individual LoS Ideological extremism Violent extremism

Study 1: The ethno-nationalist conflict in Sri Lanka Samples: Former members of the LTTE (n = 178) & Tamil community members that never belonged to LTTE (n = 157) Measures: Collective narcissism Individual LoS Ideological extremism: “Only after getting a separate state, can Tamil people progress in life. “ Violent extremism: Support for violence as a means to attaining a separate state

Study 1: Results Individual LoS a stronger predictor of support for violence among community members but CN a more positive predictor among former LTTE -.20* .12† Collective LoS Violent extremism .36*** .12† Individual LoS

Ideological extremism Study 1: Results Ideological extremism .32*** .28*** .27*** .39*** -.28**(-.20*) .01 (.12†) Collective LoS Violent extremism .07 .11 .34***(.36***) .08 (.12†) Individual LoS

Study 1: Summary Overall pattern of interactions consistent with the predictions But: regardless of the network, collective narcissism was associated with greater ideological commitment, which was subsequently related to greater support for violence Low level of radicalization among former LTTE members and the effects in this group rather weak Study 2: a different context and a different method for identifying networks

Study 2: Islamic extremism in Morocco Samples: Participants from two cities identified as differing in the level of radicalization (Casablanca & Tetouan) Measures: Collective narcissism Individual LoS Ideological extremism: Islamic fundamentalism (e.g. “Islam should be practiced in the strictest way, regardless of situations or circumstance.”) Violent extremism: “Armed Jihad is a personal obligation of all Muslims today.”

Study 2: Results CN a stronger predictor of support for violence in Tetouan but individual LoS was a stronger predictor in Casablanca .29*** .72*** Collective LoS Violent extremism .11† -.09* Individual LoS

Ideological extremism Study 2: Results Ideological extremism .54*** .66*** .29*** .71*** .13* (.29***) .26* (.72***) Collective LoS Violent extremism -.04 -.02 .12* (.11†) -.08 (-.09*) Individual LoS

Study 2: Summary CN was positively related to support for violent extremism, but this relation was stronger in the more radical network (Tetouan) than in the less radical network (Casablanca). That effect partially mediated by higher commitment to religious goals Individual loss of significance was a more positive predictor in Casablanca that in Tetouan

Study 3: Islamic extremism in Indonesia Samples: 379 Muslims from Moderate, Islamist, and Jihadist religious organizations Measures: Collective narcissism Individual LoS Ideological extremism Violent extremism

Study 3: Results CN a stronger predictor of support for violence in Islamist and Jihadist groups but individual LoS was a stronger predictor in Moderate groups .29*** .50*** .59*** Collective LoS Violent extremism .12† .00 -.10 Individual LoS

Ideological extremism Study 3: Results Ideological extremism .32*** .56*** .35*** .61*** .67*** .10* (.29***) .12* (.50***) .37*** (.59***) Collective LoS Violent extremism .09 -.01 .02 .06 (.12†) .00 (.00) -.12* (-.10) Individual LoS

Study 3: Summary The relation between CN and support for violence was stronger for participants affiliated with the more radical organizations than among members of Moderate organizations For Islamists, that relationship was mediated by increased commitment to goals of fundamental Islam. For Jihadists, collective insignificance was directly related to increased support for violence, even when controlling for ideological commitment.

General discussion Significant interactions between social network and quest for significance on support for violence In more radicalized social contexts, desire for greater collective significance was a more positive predictor of violent extremism than in less radicalized contexts A possible mediating mechanism - ideological extremism – varied in strength between studies The interactions between personal insignificance and social network were in the opposite direction However, overall it was a weak effect When personal insignificance was related to violence, this effect was direct, and was not mediated by goal commitment