RT Article
T1 The Role of Basic Psychological Needs in Right-Wing Extremism Risk Among American Conservatives
JF Terrorism and political violence
VO 36
IS 4
SP 533
OP 551
A1 Rappel, Jeremy J. J.
A1 Vachon, David D.
A2 Vachon, David D.
LA English
YR 2024
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1888278811
AB Modern psychological theories of violent extremism stress the roles of social connections and personal meaning as motivators for individuals to participate in extremist groups. Personal meaning and social connections are both important aspects of Basic Psychological Needs Theory, a motivation framework commonly used in workplace and educational psychology. This study sought to assess the relationship between Basic Psychological Needs and extremism among (N = 361) self-identified American conservatives. Psychological Need fulfilment was strongly negatively associated with endorsement of extremism (range of rs = −.43 to −.68). In addition, Psychological Need fulfilment explained incremental variance in extremism scores after accounting for other psychological characteristics, including aggression, psychopathy, empathy, and Five-Factor Model personality traits. These findings suggest that Basic Psychological Needs may be a useful framework to expand our understanding of the etiology of extremism, and that prosocial alternatives for meeting these needs may reduce the risk of engaging in extremist behaviors.
K1 Personality
K1 Violence
K1 Right-wing
K1 Basic Psychological Needs
K1 Extremism
DO 10.1080/09546553.2023.2178305