Terrorists seek social disapproval that confirms their adopted negative identity.

Evidence

Since the individual motivation for terrorism may be psychological, involving the acquisition of an identity or affiliation with a substitute family, the failure to achieve the organization’s instrumental goals may not be a sufficient “aversive stimulation.” Individuals who resort to terrorist behavior as part of the assumption of a negative identity expect and even seek social disapproval, which confirms their selfexpectations. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4162

Categorization

• QUESTION: If social disapproval is a reward, then public shaming campaigns and punitive government responses literally feed the behavior they aim to stop — worth chasing the empirical literature on deradicalization.
• XREF: Ties to identity theory and Erikson’s negative identity concept; also to Asch-conformity and social identity research threads. — connects to: Negative attention from authorities can reinforce a negative identity. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology: Key Readings, 4130