Recent research has found that extreme behavior for an ideological cause is more likely under psychological conditions that induce a search for significance and social recognition (Kruglanski et al., 2022). Two types of motivation for significance have been identified: the quest for individual significance (i.e., individual grievances) rooted in personal experiences and the quest for collective significance (i.e., collective grievances) rooted in the perception that one's social group is humiliated and/or disrespected. Whereas past research has demonstrated associations between both forms of insignificance and political extremism, it is unclear what form of frustration has a major role in explaining extremism. To test the role of the demand for recognition and respect, at the individual and collective level in predicting violent extremism, we conducted two studies. Study 1 (Sri Lanka, N = 510) examined the relation between individual and collective grievances and extremism in a population of Tamils. Study 2 (Philippines, N = 509) focuses on extremism on behalf of Islam in populations of Muslims. Across the two studies (N = 1,019) the results show a consistent positive effect of collective grievances on willingness to sacrifice for religion and for a separate state, ideological extremism, whereas individual grievances had no effect on extremism. The results are discussed within the context of the literature on extremism.
Short. In two studies (N = 1,019) conducted with Tamils and Muslims, we found that collective grievances (i.e., the feeling of not being socially recognized as a group), but not individual grievances, positively predicted several measures of extremism (i.e., willingness to sacrifice, religious extremism).