Need for significance predicts extremism mainly when combined with discrimination or activist identity

Evidence

There is some evidence to suggest that participants who feel insignificant and who have a strong desire for being highly respected and considered important by others are more likely to express support for violent extremist ideas and groups, especially when they also reported experiences of discrimination, when their moral judgment functioned at a post-conventional level, or when they strongly identified with being an activist (see “civic identity”). — Lea Echelmeyer, Anne-Marie Slotboom, and Frank Weerman, The Putative Effect of Identity on…, 234

Categorization

• XREF: Conditional nature of the effect aligns with the reader’s testing of when identity mechanisms actually trigger. — connects to: Unmet basic needs like belonging and purpose drive extremist recruitment — 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:…, 57; Anti-terror suspicion and discrimination can push people toward extremism — 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:…, 120; perceived disrespect and loss of significance drive extremism more than poverty does — 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:…, 157 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Self-esteem needs predict extremism only through collective, not personal, mechanisms #qualifies (0.82) — Lea Echelmeyer, Anne-Marie Slotboom, and Frank Weerman, The Putative Effect of Identity on…, 240
• Some identity needs reduce rather than increase violent extremism #complicates (0.80) — Lea Echelmeyer, Anne-Marie Slotboom, and Frank Weerman, The Putative Effect of Identity on…, 253
• Integrated or dual identities can turn protective effects into extremism risk #expands (0.78) — Lea Echelmeyer, Anne-Marie Slotboom, and Frank Weerman, The Putative Effect of Identity on…, 251
• The need to belong sometimes shows null or inverse effects on extremism. #expands (0.75) — Lea Echelmeyer, Anne-Marie Slotboom, and Frank Weerman, The Putative Effect of Identity on…, 237
• A dual identity reduces prejudice when it signals progress rather than threat #complicates (0.74) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 594
• Minority status raises identity complexity only absent threat perceptions #qualifies (0.72) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 581