Preventing radicalization leading to violence: Insights from the significance quest theory and its 3N model

Abstract

Radicalization leading to violence is a major societal issue all over the globe. In order to prevent its increase and expansion, measures need to be taken at different instances and levels. In the present narrative review, to inform evidence‐based practices, we bring together numerous applied recommendations made by scholars studying the psychological underpinnings of radicalization within the framework of the Significance Quest Theory and its 3N model. The applied recommendations target at least one of the three elements of the 3N model (i.e., need, narrative, and network) in at least one of the three levels of prevention (i.e., primary, secondary, and tertiary). In the discussion, we highlight which of these are still lacking empirical evaluation, which might be problematic and why, and how policymakers, practitioners, and researchers can work together to provide an integrative model of intervention addressing both the need for significance and the influence of radical narratives and groups. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

The significance quest theory and the 3N model: A systematic review.

“…Finally, the backward snowballing procedure resulted in the identification of two additional reports (Lyons-Padilla et al, 2015;Orehek & Kruglanski, 2018), leading to a total of 31 reports, regrouping 84 studies (cf. online repository, Da Silva et al, 2023, for an overview of included studies). SIGNIFICANCE QUEST THEORY AND 3N MODEL References that were considered noneligible were excluded because they were qualitative articles (n = 5), theoretical articles on SQT (n = 14), theoretical articles unrelated to SQT (n = 2), empirical articles in which SQT was not the main focus (n = 2), empirical articles unrelated to SQT (n = 5), and empirical articles testing the effect of interventions informed by the 3N model (n = 2).…”

“…Finally, the backward snowballing procedure resulted in the identification of two additional reports (Lyons-Padilla et al, 2015; Orehek & Kruglanski, 2018), leading to a total of 31 reports, regrouping 84 studies (cf. online repository, Da Silva et al, 2023, for an overview of included studies).…”

“…Therefore, all 84 studies were included in the present systematic review (cf. online repository, Da Silva et al, 2023, for a complete report of the quality assessment).…”

Significance Quest: A Meta-Analysis on the Association Between the Variables of the 3N Model and Violent Extremism

“…These can, for instance, focus on tackling the negative experiences faced by minorities, and the influence of ideologies, notably in terms of moral disengagement, and radical networks. Practitioners should also consider these elements in their risk assessments and focus their social reintegration efforts on building resilience, promoting moderation in terms of commitment to a cause, prosocial values, and connection with prosocial peers (Da Silva et al, 2022).…”

The Ethics of Radical and Transformative Education

“…In this situation, learners are often vulnerable and therefore acutely susceptible to promises of orientation. This is often how extremist groups seek new adherents: finding people in vulnerable situations and offering social, emotional, and cognitive stability, while endeavoring to shape them into the predefined ideology (Da Silva et al, 2022). We would consider this a form of manipulation and therefore against our criterion of respecting learner autonomy.…”