Susceptibility to Radicalization - Developing a New Measurement Approach

• In Event: EXTR10 Susceptibility to radicalisation and extremist attitudes

Abstract

The dynamics of radicalization represent one of, if not the central, threats to the fabric of modern and democratic societies. Radicalization is understood as the process by which an individual turns to an extremist ideology that rejects the central norms of society. Although there are instruments that attempt to measure radicalization systematically, they overlook key problems: 1. Radicalized individuals are by definition a minority in society, making them difficult to reach through standardized surveys of the general population. Second, many of the established scales can be expected to suffer from socially desirable response behavior. The goal of this presentation is to introduce a measure of Susceptibility to Radicalization (SuRa) that is conceptually better suited for standardized population surveys and that systematically captures perceptions prior to or at the onset of radicalization. SuRa is based on three core subscales: Forms of Discrimination, Distrust of Democracy, and Authoritarianism. These subscales comprise a total of twelve items (Cronbach's alpha = .799). They are based on theoretical assumptions and a previous qualitative study. The development of the scales was based on extensive qualitative and quantitative testing (pre-test n = 343). The final evaluation was based on a general online survey of the German-speaking population (n =2,002).

Author

• Armin Küchler, Bielefeld University/ FH Münster