Psychological and Behavioral Factors of Terrorism

Psychological and behavioral factors of Terrorism
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Psychological and behavioral factors of Terrorism
Terrorism is one of the most complex social issues experienced in the contemporary world, especially since it remains extremely divisive. As a result, some scholars feel that discussing or even researching terrorism is not always a straightforward affair as one has to consider a myriad of religious, economic, social, and political factors. The psychological dimension is considered by Horgan (2017) as a minor contributor to the discussion and also the least researched. However, adequate literature allows a compressive exploration of the psychological and behavioral factors influencing individual terrorists. The thesis of the paper is that individuals subjected to oppressive situations, including extended periods of injustice, victimization trauma, and humiliation, will justify their terrorist tendencies as the desire and search for justice.
Psychological and Behavioral Factors
The question of how individuals enter into terrorism or why one would support terrorist groups is becoming common in modern literature. The psychological and behavioral factors play a critical role in individuals becoming suicide bombers and terrorist recruits. According to Nizami, Hassan, Yasir, Rana, and Minhas (2018), the act of conducting a terrorist activity is not a singular moment of inspiration. Instead, it involves a complex process of cognitive assimilation and accommodation that accumulate over time. Therefore, it is incorrect to label terrorists as psychopaths since they are individuals of sound mind with justifications for their actions. As a psychological issue, the motivation for terrorism involves a deep underlying quest for personal significance and meaning. Hwang (2018) explained that personal and identity crises, repression, discrimination, and religious seeking are all psychological factors influencing terrorist behaviors. In other words, subjecting people to an extended period of injustice and radicalized religion changes the psychology of an individual resulting in moral justification for terrorism.
Several psychological models can be used to illustrate how psychological and behavioral factors influence terrorism. Moghaddam’s staircase model is a contextual framework explaining how terrorists move up levels of terrorist hierarchy (Moghaddan & Sardoč, 2019). The assumption is that as long as there exists a staircase, there will be individuals willing to scale it. The model ties together a set of social, individual, and environmental factors that cause the psychological chain of events leading to terrorism. Moghaddam expresses that the model or the staircase starts with a grievance or perceived injustices and an effort by an individual to understand the unfairness (Windisch, 2020). As these issues escalate and the individuals continue to perceive the injustice, a progression towards radicalization in terms of behavior and psychology is experienced. People facing these conditions are more likely to be mobilized by others facing similar injustices. The mobilization can be described using the social identity theory, which explains that people become invested in the groups ...