Terrorism and collective action

Although it is intuitively appealing to think that those who engage in terrorist acts are evil and deranged, empirical research has proven otherwise. Indeed, we consider terrorism not as anti-normative as it may first appear. Inspired by classic psychological experiments that emphasize the power of social factors, our research with those who engage in terrorism has focused on basic psychological processes that affect us all. The processes we emphasize in our field work and our laboratory experiments are collective identity, norms, and sensation seeking.

Selected work:

King, M. & Taylor, D. M. (2011). The radicalization of homegrown jihadists: A review of theoretical models and social-psychological evidence. Terrorism and Political Violence 23, 602-622.

King, M., Noor, H., & Taylor, D. M. (2011). Normative support for terrorism: The attitudes and beliefs of immediate relatives of Jema’ah Islamiyah members. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 34, 402-417.

Bartlett, J., Birdwell, J., & King, M. (2010). The edge of violence: A radical approach to extremism. Lodon, UK: Demos.

Bartlett, J., & King, M. (April 2009). License to kill. Prospect, 157, p.21-22.

Taylor, D. M., & Louis, W. R. (2003). Terrorism and the quest for identity. In A. J. Marsella & F. M. Moghaddam (Eds.), Understanding terrorism: Psychosocial roots (169-185). APA Publications: Washington, DC.