Report 7.1: A Social Psychological Perspective on Trends of Radicalisation

January 2024

Abstract

The report synthesises the findings of a survey and 15 country reports (Austria, Bosnia and 
Herzegovina, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Poland, 
Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey, and the United Kingdom). This report argues that research on 
radicalisation must consider group membership and intergroup context and argues for a 
processual and relational understanding of radicalisation. Specifically, our findings highlight 
the importance of felt strong online group identity on radicalisation or support for extremist 
attitudes. We also find that holding strong beliefs about group hierarchies as an inherent fact 
of life (social dominance orientation) is an important contributor to endorsing more extremist 
attitudes. We further find that relational intergroup factors such as the importance of group 
relative deprivation - to what extent individuals perceive groups they identify with as deprived 
- can help explain pathways to radicalisation. Other relational intergroup factors, such as 
beliefs that one’s ingroup is superior to other social groups (i.e., collective narcissism) and 
perceptions that migrants threaten a country’s resources, welfare, and majority population’s 
power, all play an important role in predicting endorsement of extremist attitudes. Finally, we 
also explore an individual’s relational vulnerability to find that for our whole sample, 
experiencing social alienation, which encompasses felt meaninglessness and isolation, was 
linked with more significant support for extremist attitudes. Given the largely collaborative 
nature of D.Rad, the current survey study, combined with the partners’ unique position to 
understand the current social and cultural contexts of their countries better than any single 
partner alone could, offers unique insight into the social psychology of radicalisation by 
situating findings within their sociopolitical and sociocultural contexts, as well as 
investigating universal experiences of pathways to endorsing extremist ideologies. 
Importantly, we highlight that the path to radicalisation is not linear but involves the interplay 
of many relational factors that can buffer or catalyse progression. Studying the journey in 
progress allows us to understand radicalisation as a social process and situate individuals 
within meaningful social groups and social experiences.