Given the right circumstances, almost anyone can become a terrorist

Evidence

The point that the social psychologist wants to stress is this: Evildoing is not confined to individuals who are evil at the time of committing the act. Each of us has the capacity to do evil actions if our surroundings press us to do so. The wonderfulness of our upbringings and the goodness of our personalities do not protect us from doing so. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4034 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

The first type is the extremely extroverted personality, whose behavior is unstable, uninhibited, inconsiderate, self-interested, and unemotional. (Although Süllwold does not suggest the concept of narcissism, these attributes resemble those of the narcissistic personality; see Rubins, 1983). Emotional deficiencies blind such individuals to the negative consequences of their actions. Such people also possess a high tolerance for stress. It is possible that this person is a stress seeker, for whom the excitement of danger compensates for the absence of feeling. Such persons, furthermore, do not accept responsibility for their actions and dislike boredom and inactivity. … The second type of terrorist leader is neurotically hostile. Suspicious, aggressive, defensive, and intolerant, he rejects criticism and is extremely sensitive to external hostility. For this type of individual, the terrorist movement serves as a projection of inner hostility. … Süllwold (1981) asserts, as does Pomper (1979) in his biography of the 19th-century Russian terrorist Sergei Nechaev, that terrorism is a field of action in which personality defects that would be punished in a normal social setting are rewarded. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4106 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Environment-only theories overpredict who becomes a terrorist; Terrorists can come from privileged conservative backgrounds rather than deprived ones — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 2130; Every person can perform evil under sufficient situational pressure — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4034 (+10 more)

Broader Connections

• Every person can perform evil under sufficient situational pressure #corroborates (0.92) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4034
• Terrorism rewards personality defects that ordinary society punishes. #complicates (0.72) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4106