ABSTRACT
Although theories of violent extremism often emphasise the role of personal agency in the radicalisation process, most do not focus directly on the relationship between personally transformative experiences and group identities. However, there is growing evidence that shared suffering and kin psychology produce a very strong form of group alignment known as ‘identity fusion’. Once fused with a group, perceptions of threat combined with a willingness to condone violence and treat outgroups as undifferentiated entities lead to acts of violent self-sacrifice typical of many acts of terrorism. Extremist narratives can contribute to these processes and are certainly likely to appeal to those fused with an embattled group, but the main motivation for violent extremism lies in group psychology. Understanding that psychology opens up the possibility of developing diagnostic tools for detecting the risk of violent extremism before it is too late. On the basis of our most recent research, we present a new language-based framework that can be used to assess the psychological risk factors for violent behaviour in online groups.
