Social identification as a predictor of extremist attitudes of young adults

Abstract

Modern society is characterized by a growth in extremism among young adults, which heightens the importance of identifying personal features that contribute to the involvement of a person in extremist and terrorist groups. The article analyzes the findings of an empirical study devoted to three types of extremist attitudes — fanaticism, nationalism and xenophobia. The study reveals that over half of the respondents manifest a heightened or high level of at least one type of extremist attitudes. The authors view certain features of young peoples’ identification as predictors of extremism. They examined four types of identification: Acceptance of role models from the immediate environment, identification with the social role, self-identification and self-expression, which were evaluated from the standpoint of their certainty and subjective productivity. Besides, they took into account attitude to oneself and self-esteem of young people as well as their desire to change themselves and their lives. The authors determined key predictors of fanaticism attitudes — refusal to identify with one’s immediate environment, non-productive identity and a negative attitude to oneself. Additional predictors are a low level of self-identification and believing oneself to be a person who can influence others. The authors singled out unproductive identity, identification with the social role and a negative attitude to oneself as predictors of nationalistic attitudes. Key predictors of xenophobia turned out to be identification with the social group, absence of a definite productive identity together with a low self-esteem, high assessment of self-effectiveness, self-image of a person who does not stand out from the group and absence of a desire to change oneself. A regression analysis showed that the obtained models have a high explanatory value. Research results also allowed the authors to single out identity characteristics that could act as buffers for the development of extremist attitudes among young adults. Prevention measures could include person-centered approach to education, creating conditions for a conscious self-identification of teenagers and young adults, psychological support of forming a positive ego-identity and the development of self-consciousness.