Yes, No, and Maybe in the World of Terrorism Research: Reflections on the Commentaries

Psychological Factors in Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Individual, Group, and Organizational Levels of Analysis

“…Across terrorism's varied instances, such justification typically assumed two nonexclusive forms, including (a) the claim that the otherwise unacceptable mayhem is in the service of a superordinate cause anchored in sacred moral values (e.g., defense of the ingroup against its enemies, promotion of social justice, service to God (Haidt & Graham, 2007) and (b) the suggestion that the targets of one's aggression are subhuman and evil, hence unworthy of protection by norms governing the treatment of persons (Bandura, 1990/1998; Greenberg & Dratel, 2005; Zimbardo, 2008). Because of the morality imputed to terrorist activity on behalf of some collective cause, and the self‐sacrifice that terrorism typically entails, the terrorist groups typically reward their operatives with considerable veneration and accord them the status of martyrs and heroes (Kruglanski, Chen, Dechesne, Fishman, & Orehek, 2009a,b). These general aspects of terrorism will be highlighted in the pages that follow.…”

“…We also consider the hypothesis that individuals’ decision to embark on terrorism is prompted by the situation and that there exist general “root causes” (economic, political, or educational) that propel numerous persons toward terrorism. We then elaborate on the distinction between “root causes” and “contributing factors” as these may impact individuals’ readiness to engage in terrorism, and we address the notion that much of terrorism is in the service of a broad motivational force, the quest for personal significance , anchored in a collectivistic ideology (whether political, ethnonationalist, or religious) that informs individuals how they may enhance their societal worth by committing terrorism (Kruglanski, Chen, Dechesne, Fishman, & Orehek, 2009a,b).…”

“…In recent articles on terrorists’ motivation (Kruglanski, Chen, Dechesne, Fishman, & Orehek, 2009a,b), we proposed that underlying most terrorist attacks is the quest for personal significance. Such a quest has been identified by psychological theorists as a pervasive motivational force in human behavior, assumed to be served best by transcendence of the self and an adoption of larger societal causes.…”

My Road to Violent Extremism (As Its Researcher, That Is…)

“…Whereas prior literature on terrorists' motivation (Bloom, 2005;Gambetta, 2005;Stern, 2004) enumerated a long and varied list of motives (e.g., vengeance, the perks of paradise, money, adoration of a leader, even feminism), we argued that underlying them all is the human concern for mattering and significance. This notion, first broached in the Kruglanski et al (2009aKruglanski et al ( , 2009b papers, was further developed in subsequent publications (Kruglanski et al, 2013(Kruglanski et al, , 2014Kruglanski, Jasko, Chernikova, Dugas, & Webber, 2017).…”

Understanding Islamic Radicalism in Indonesia from Social Psychological Perspective

“…According to the social sciences in particular social psychology, identity crisis related to some disturbances and stresses that individuals experienced Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 408 in their life and made them lose their selves and awareness. The individuals who experienced crisis identity would be easily influenced and indoctrinated, therefore some recruiters of the group terrorist very aware of this thing, and use it as a basis in recruitment and looking for new members [26], [27].…”