scholarly journals The “Great Replacement” conspiracy: How the perceived ousting of Whites can evoke violent extremism and Islamophobia

2021 ◽  
pp. 136843022110282
Author(s):  
Milan Obaidi ◽  
Jonas Kunst ◽  
Simon Ozer ◽  
Sasha Y. Kimel
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Societal Implications ◽  
Intergroup Attitudes ◽  
Demographic Changes ◽  
Violent Extremism ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs ◽  
White Supremacists

Increased immigration and demographic changes have not only resulted in political pushback, but also in violent attacks against immigrants. Several recent terrorist attacks committed by White supremacists invoke rhetoric around a deliberate attempt to make Whites extinct and replace them with non-Western immigrants. Yet, while it is widely acknowledged among extremism researchers that this perception of orchestrated extinction or replacement has tremendous potential to lead to violent extremism, its consequences have not yet been directly examined. Using the Scandinavian context (e.g., Denmark and Norway), in two correlational studies and one experiment, we provide evidence that this perception is associated with the persecution of Muslims, violent intentions, and Islamophobia. Further, we demonstrate that these associations are mediated by symbolic threats. Conspiracy beliefs that one’s group is being replaced seem to drive hostile intergroup attitudes. We discuss the societal implications of this finding (i.e., generating fear, polarization, and hostile public opinion towards immigrants).

scholarly journals The Great Replacement Conspiracy: How the Perceived Ousting of Whites Can Evoke Violent Extremism and Islamophobia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milan Obaidi ◽  
Jonas R. Kunst ◽  
Simon Ozer ◽  
Sasha Kimel
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Societal Implications ◽  
Intergroup Attitudes ◽  
Demographic Changes ◽  
Violent Extremism ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs ◽  
White Supremacists

Increased immigration and demographic changes have not only resulted in political pushback, but also in violent attacks against immigrants. Several recent terrorist attacks committed by White supremacists invoke rhetoric around a deliberate attempt to make Whites extinct and replace them with non-Western immigrants. Yet, while it is widely acknowledged among extremism researchers that this perception of orchestrated extinction or replacement has tremendous potential to lead to violent extremism, its consequences have not yet been directly examined. Using the Scandinavian context (e.g., Denmark and Norway), in two correlational studies and one experiment, we provide evidence that this perception is associated with the persecution of Muslims, violent intentions, and Islamophobia. Further, we demonstrate that these associations are mediated by symbolic threats. Conspiracy beliefs that one’s group is being replaced seems to drive hostile intergroup attitudes. We discuss the societal implications of this finding (i.e., generating fear, polarization and hostile public opinion towards immigrants).

‘Things are not what they seem to be’: A proposal for the spectrum approach to conspiracy beliefs

2021 ◽  
pp. 103985622110081
Author(s):  
Vladan Starcevic ◽  
Vlasios Brakoulias
Keyword(s):  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Persecutory Delusions ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Community Or ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs

Objective: Conspiracy beliefs (also known as conspiracy theories) become more prominent at times of heightened uncertainty and inconsistent or conflicting explanations provided by the authorities for events like terrorist attacks or pandemics, such as COVID-19. This article aims to examine the relevance of conspiracy beliefs for psychiatry in the context of the dynamics of trust and mistrust. Conclusions: Conspiracy beliefs may be situated on a spectrum of mistrust-related phenomena, which extends from healthy scepticism to persecutory delusions. They can be conceptualised as unfounded and fixed beliefs held with strong conviction about harm inflicted by powerful groups on the community or another group of people, usually with preserved insight that these beliefs differ from those that most people have and with reasons for having such beliefs not necessarily being implausible. It is important for conspiracy beliefs to be distinguished from persecutory delusions.

Concern about salient pathogen threats increases sensitivity to disgust

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelby Boggs ◽  
Benjamin Ruisch ◽  
Russell Fazio
Keyword(s):  
Individual Difference ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Societal Implications ◽  
Intergroup Attitudes ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Disgust Sensitivity ◽  
Local Ecology

Individuals vary substantially in their sensitivity to disgust—differences that have implications for intergroup attitudes, political ideology, and beyond. However, the source of this variability in disgust sensitivity remains a subject of debate. In this work, we test the hypothesis that sensitivity to disgust is "calibrated" by an individual's concern about disease threats in their local ecology. Leveraging the COVID-19 pandemic, we obtain strong support for this hypothesis, finding that disgust sensitivity increased following the COVID-19 outbreak and that the degree of this increase was moderated by an individual's subjective concern about contracting the disease. This work fills a longstanding theoretical gap regarding the sources of variability in disgust sensitivity, while challenging the view that disgust sensitivity is an immutable individual difference. Given the role of disgust in motivating intergroup prejudice and right-wing ideologies, we anticipate that these increases in disgust sensitivity are likely to have important downstream societal implications.

Detecting Linguistic Markers of Violent Extremism in Online Environments

2016 ◽  
pp. 374-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fredrik Johansson ◽  
Lisa Kaati ◽  
Magnus Sahlgren
Keyword(s):  
Natural Language Processing ◽  
Natural Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Written Text ◽  
Linguistic Markers ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
Violent Extremism ◽  
Online Environments

The ability to disseminate information instantaneously over vast geographical regions makes the Internet a key facilitator in the radicalisation process and preparations for terrorist attacks. This can be both an asset and a challenge for security agencies. One of the main challenges for security agencies is the sheer amount of information available on the Internet. It is impossible for human analysts to read through everything that is written online. In this chapter we will discuss the possibility of detecting violent extremism by identifying signs of warning behaviours in written text – what we call linguistic markers – using computers, or more specifically, natural language processing.

Some Critical Notes on Sri Lankan Muslim Religious Identity Formation, Conservatism, and Violent Extremism

2022 ◽  
pp. 002190962110696
Author(s):  
A.R.M. Imtiyaz ◽  
Amjad Mohamed Saleem
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
New Wave ◽  
Eastern Province ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Violent Extremism

A new wave of attacks by Sinhala-Buddhist extremist elements against the Muslim community in Sri Lanka started following the brutal end of the ethnic civil war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sinhala-Buddhist-dominated Sri Lanka security forces in 2009. Easter Sunday terrorist attacks in 2019 by some Muslims polarized Sri Lanka and contributed to the compromise of the country’s security. Sri Lankan Muslims often claim they are a peaceful community and thus have no serious interests in violent mobilization. But the evidence would basically contradict Muslims’ claim of a peace-loving community. The Easter Sunday terrorist attacks did not take place in any vacuum. This paper will situate some key developments in the violent mobilization of Sri Lanka during the war against the LTTE. The primary goal of such an attempt is to read the growing religious conservative and violent trends among Muslims between 1977 and 2009. In understanding the growing religious conservative trends, an understanding is attempted to situate a later propensity for violence within the community that would manifest itself with the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks. Interviews were conducted with members of the Islamic Dawah organizations and Muslim youth who were formerly associated with violent groups in the Eastern Province to understand the ground reality. The period of 1977–2009 is important as the rise of religious conservatist influences in Sri Lanka mirrors the global transnational influences of Iran and Middle East Petro Dollars, especially Saudi Arabia. The article draws mainly on secondary sources. But to gain a better understanding of the ground reality, we spoke to a few Eastern Muslims between July 2016 and September 2021 at regular intervals.

Vulnerability, self-uncertainty, and collective narcissism mediate the relationship between ostracism and conspiracy beliefs: Α representative sample study during the first wave of the pandemic

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theofilos Gkinopoulos ◽  
Mete Sefa Uysal
Keyword(s):  
Current Knowledge ◽  
The Self ◽  
Societal Implications ◽  
Group Level ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Moderating Role

A correlational study (N=895) examined the association between ostracism and endorsement of COVID-19 conspiracy theories, the mediating role of sense of vulnerability, self-uncertainty and collective narcissism and the moderating role of conspiracy mentality. We found that ostracism positively predicted endorsement of COVID-19 conspiracy theories and this association was mediated by sense of vulnerability, self-uncertainty and collective narcissism. Conspiracy mentality moderated the relationship between ostracism with the sense of vulnerability, but not the self-uncertainty nor of the collective narcissism. Our study expands on the still very few and scarce research on ostracism and conspiracy theories, by confirming their relationship in the context of the pandemic, as well as exploring further interrelationships, responding to the recent calls for investigating the mediating role of both individual and group-level variables. Theoretical and societal implications are discussed. Results offer a novel insight in the relationship between ostracism and conspiracy theories focused on COVID-19, advancing our current knowledge and developing their relationship even further.

Social Instability and State Responses in China

2015 ◽  
Vol 07 (01) ◽  
pp. 51-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei SHAN
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
National Security ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Judicial Reform ◽  
Social Instability ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Politics And Law ◽  
State Responses ◽  
Law Commission ◽  
Risky Projects

The year of 2014 in China saw rising terrorist attacks by Uighur minority in Xinjiang, as well as a number of massive protests caused by environmentally risky projects. Hardline policy on public opinion and liberal intellectuals had been continued. The year also witnessed a series of reforms in the party-state's security and legal apparatus, including the creation of the National Security Commission, judicial reform, and redefining the power of the Politics and Law Commission.

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