Mapping Fundamentalisms: The Psychology of Religion as a Sub-Discipline in the Understanding of Religiously Motivated Violence
Authors: Savage, Sara1; Liht, Jose2
Source: Archive for the Psychology of Religion / Archiv für Religionspychologie, Volume 30, Number 1, 2008 , pp. 75-91(17)
Publisher: BRILL
- Free Content
- New Content
- Subscribed Content
- Free Trial Content
Abstract:
The psychology of religion has a vital role to play in understanding religiously motivated violence, and thus contributing to its prevention. Psychological pathology alone fails to explain either terrorists' actions or the fundamentalist religiosity that is co-opted as its legitimation. Normal social psychological processes such as uncertainty reduction, terror management, social identity, meaning making (through religion), in combination with cognitive factors such as intratextuality and low integrative complexity, provide a more adequate understanding of the radicalization of young people, some of whom go on to commit violence against hated out-groups.Keywords: ISLAM; MUSLIMS; RADICALIZATION; SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY; TERROR MANAGEMENT THEORY; UNCERTAINTY REDUCTION THEORY; SOCIAL CATEGORIZATION; VALUES
Document Type: Research article
DOI: 10.1163/157361208X316971
Affiliations: 1: Psychology and Religion Research Group, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK;, Email: sbs21@cam.ac.uk 2: Psychology and Religion Research Group, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK;, Email: jl468@cam.ac.uk
- Free Content
- New Content
- Subscribed Content
- Free Trial Content
Click here for Page Help