![Sample our Politics & International Relations journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5947/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Politics-International-Relations.jpg"})
Abstract
Young people’s involvement in violent extremism remains a concern in many countries, including Indonesia. This study examined direct and indirect relationships between indicators of existential anxiety, political efficacy, extrinsic religiosity, and support for violent extremism. Two hundred and ten young Indonesians were recruited to the study and all completed an anonymous online survey containing the measures of interest. The findings suggest that indicators of existential anxiety are related to greater support for violent extremism, but this relationship may be dependent on perceptions of political efficacy and religious orientation. Future research could explore whether support for violent extremism can be reduced by enhancing young people’s sense of control and political efficacy.
Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge Randi Nizar and Lintang Paramita Indrawijaya for their assistance in the translation of survey materials.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Funding
This research was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship.
Notes
1 Tom Allard, “Indonesian School a Launchpad for Child Fighters in Syria’s Islamic State,” Reuters, 2017, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-militants-school-insight/indonesian-school-a-launchpad-for-child-fighters-in-syrias-islamic-state-idUSKCN1BI0A7; Bibi Vvn Ginkel and Eva Entenmann, eds., “The Foreign Fighters Phenomenon in the European Union. Profiles, Threats & Policies,” in The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism - The Hague (ICCT) Evolutions in Counter-Terrorism, Vol. 1 (November 2020 [2016]): 16-18, https://doi.org/10.19165/2016.1.02.
2 Michael King and Donald M. Taylor, “The Radicalization of Homegrown Jihadists: A Review of Theoretical Models and Social Psychological Evidence,” Terrorism and Political Violence 23, no. 4 (2011): 602–22, https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2011.587064; Peter Neumann and Scott Kleinmann, “How Rigorous Is Radicalization Research?,” Democracy and Security 9, no. 4 (September 2013): 365.
3 Randy Borum, “Radicalization into Violent Extremism II: A Review of Conceptual Models and Empirical Research,” Journal of Strategic Security 4, no. 4 (2011): 37–62.
4 Borum; Matteo Vergani, Muhammad Iqbal, Ekin Ilbahar, and Greg Barton, “The Three Ps of Radicalization: Push, Pull and Personal. A Systematic Scoping Review of the Scientific Evidence about Radicalization Into Violent Extremism,” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 43, no. 10 (2020): 854–885, https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2018.1505686.
5 Stephen C. Craig, Richard G. Niemi, and Glenn E. Silver, “Political Efficacy and Trust: A Report on the NES Pilot Study Items,” Political Behavior 12, no. 3 (1990): 289–314.
6 Borum, “Radicalization into Violent Extremism II: A Review of Conceptual Models and Empirical Research.”
7 Frank P. Hairgrove, “Media Use in Conversion into Islamic Radicalism: Why This Person and Not That Person, Why Here, Why Now?” (University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2011); Muhammad Iqbal, Kerry S. O’Brien, Ana-Maria Bliuc, and Matteo Vergani, “Death Reminders Increase Agreement with Extremist Views but Not Violent Extremist Action in Indonesian Muslims,” Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 47, no. 6 (2016): 891–97, https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022116646875; Matteo Vergani, Muhammad Iqbal, Kerry S. O’Brien, Pete Lentini, and Greg Barton, “Examining the Relationship Between Alienation and Radicalization into Violent Extremism,” in Islam and Security in The West, ed. Stefano Bonino and Roberta Ricucci (Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2021), 115–38, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67925-5_6..
8 Hamdi Muluk and Nathanael G. Sumaktoyo, “Intratextual Fundamentalism and the Desire for Simple Cognitive Structure: The Moderating Effect of the Ability to Achieve Cognitive Structure,” Archive for the Psychology of Religion 32, no. 2 (2010): 217–38, https://doi.org/10.1163/157361210X500919.
9 Steven E. Finkel, “The Effects of Participation on Political Efficacy and Political Support: Evidence from a West German Panel,” The Journal of Politics 49, no. 2 (1987): 441–64.
10 Lars Berger, “Foreign Policies or Culture: What Shapes Muslim Public Opinion on Political Violence against the United States?,” Journal of Peace Research 51, no. 6 (2014): 782–96, https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343314527983.
11 C. Christine Fair and Bryan Shepherd, “Who Supports Terrorism? Evidence from Fourteen Muslim Countries,” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 29, no. 1 (January 2006): 51–74, https://doi.org/10.1080/10576100500351318.
12 Hamdi Muluk, Nathanael G. Sumaktoyo, and Dhyah M. Ruth, “Jihad as Justification: National Survey Evidence of Belief in Violent Jihad as a Mediating Factor for Sacred Violence among Muslims in Indonesia,” Asian Journal of Social Psychology 16, no. 2 (June 23, 2013): 101–11, https://doi.org/10.1111/ajsp.12002.
13 Michael Steger, Patricia Frazier, Shigehiro Oishi, and Matthew E. Kaler, “The Meaning in Life Questionnaire Assessing the Presence of and Search for Meaning in Life,” Journal of Counseling Psychology 53, no. 1 (2006): 80–93, https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.53.1.80.
14 Margie E. Lachman and Suzanne L. Weaver, “The Sense of Control as a Moderator of Social Class Differences in Health and Well-Being,” Journal of Personality and Social. Psychology 74, no. 3 (1998): 763–73, https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.74.3.763.
15 Ronald D. Hays and M. Robin DiMatteo, “A Short-Form Measure of Loneliness,” Journal of Personality Assessment 51, no. 1 (1987), https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa5101_6.
16 Richard L. Gorsuch and Susan E. McPherson, “Intrinsic/Extrinsic Measurement: I/E-Revised and Single-Item Scales,” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 28, no. 3 (September 1989): 348–54, https://doi.org/10.2307/1386745.
17 Craig, Niemi, and Silver, “Political Efficacy and Trust: A Report on the NES Pilot Study Items.”
18 Iqbal, O’Brien, Bliuc, and Vergani, “Death Reminders Increase Agreement with Extremist Views but Not Violent Extremist Action in Indonesian Muslims.”
19 Yves Rosseel, “Lavaan: An R Package for Structural Equation Modeling,” Journal of Statistical Software 48, no. 2 (2012): 1–36, https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v048.i02.
20 R Core Team, R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing (Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing, 2019), https://www.R-project.org/.
21 Katarzyna Jasko et al., “Social Context Moderates the Effects of Quest for Significance on Violent Extremism.,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 118, no. 6 (June 2020): 1165–87, https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000198; Matteo Vergani, Muhammad Iqbal, Kerry S. O’Brien, Pete Lentini, and Greg Barton, “Examining the Relationship Between Alienation and Radicalization into Violent Extremism,” in Islam and Security in the West, ed. Stefano Bonino and Roberta Ricucci (Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2021), 115–38, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67925-5_6.
22 Moghaddam, “The Staircase to Terrorism: A Psychological Exploration”; Martha Crenshaw, “The Logic of Terrorism,” in Terrorism in Perspective (Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications, 2008), 25–33.
23 Harold D. Clarke and Alan C. Acock, “National Elections and Political Attitudes: The Case of Political Efficacy,” British Journal of Political Science 19, no. 4 (October 1989): 551–62, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123400005639; Steven E. Finkel, “The Effects of Participation on Political Efficacy and Political Support: Evidence from a West German Panel,” The Journal of Politics 49, no. 2 (May 1987): 441–64, https://doi.org/10.2307/2131308.
24 Mark Sedgwick, “Al-Qaeda and the Nature of Religious Terrorism,” Terrorism and Political Violence 16, no. 4 (2004): 795–814, https://doi.org/10.1080/09546550590906098.
25 Michael J. Donahue, “Intrinsic and Extrinsic Religiousness: Review and Meta-Analysis,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 48, no. 2 (1985): 400–419, https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.48.2.400.
26 Margaret W. Linn , Bernard S. Linn, and Rachel Harris, “Effects of Counseling for Late-stage Cancer Patients,” Cancer 49, no. 5 (1982): 1048–1055, http://doi.org/10.1002/1097-0142(19820301)49:5<1048::AID-CNCR2820490534>3.0.CO;2-G; Virginia Lee, S. Robin Cohen, Linda Edgare Andrea M. Laizner, and Anita J. Gagnon, “Meaning-making Intervention During Breast or Colorectal Cancer Treatment Improves Self-Esteem, Optimism, and Self-efficacy,” Social Science and Medicine 62, no. 12 (2006): 3133–45, http://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.11.041.
27 Albert Bandura and Dale H. Schunk, “Cultivating competence, self-efficacy, and intrinsic interest through proximal self-motivation.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 41, no. 3 (1981): 586–98, http://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.41.3.586; Fredric D. Wolinsky, Mark W. Vander Weg, René Martin, Frederick W. Unverzagt, Sherry L. Willis, Michael Marsiske, George W. Rebok, John N. Morris, Karlene K. Ball, and Sharon L. Tennstedt, “Does Cognitive Training Improve Internal Locus of Control Among Older Adults?” Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences 65B, no. 5 (2009): 591–8, http://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbp117.