Identity diffusion predicts openness to all three extremist ideologies.

Evidence

As hypothesized, the authors of this paper found a positive link between identity diffusion and attitudes in favor of three violent extremist ideologies, such that high school students with a diffused identity reported higher approval of extremist ideas from right-wing, left-wing, and Islamist ideologies than students with a clear and stable sense of self. This effect was partially explained by parenting style, including parental monitoring and parental consistence, as well as critical life events and academic performance. — Lea Echelmeyer, Anne-Marie Slotboom, and Frank Weerman, The Putative Effect of Identity on…, 224

Categorization

• XREF: This empirically supports Marcia/Erikson identity-status theory applied to radicalization; connects directly to the reader’s negative-identity mechanism cross-check. — connects to: Both personal identity diffusion and integrative life-change identities affect extremism in single unreplicated studies — Lea Echelmeyer, Anne-Marie Slotboom, and Frank Weerman, The Putative Effect of Identity on…, 254; No single factor robustly drives radicalization across the sampled extremist cases — Ryan Andrew Brown, Todd C. Helmus, Rajeev Ramchand, Alina I. Palimaru, Sarah Weilant, Ashley L. Rhoades, and Liisa Hiatt (RAND Corporation), Violent Extremism in America:…, 319; Identity fusion is the most statistically robust identity predictor of extremism — Lea Echelmeyer, Anne-Marie Slotboom, and Frank Weerman, The Putative Effect of Identity on…, 248
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Lea Echelmeyer, Anne-Marie Slotboom, and Frank Weerman, The Putative Effect of Identity on…, 224

Broader Connections

• Both personal identity diffusion and integrative life-change identities affect extremism in single unreplicated studies #corroborates (0.85) — Lea Echelmeyer, Anne-Marie Slotboom, and Frank Weerman, The Putative Effect of Identity on…, 254