Unmet basic needs like belonging and purpose drive extremist recruitment

Evidence

The enduring appeal of extremist groups seems to lie in attending to fundamental human needs. Social bonds, love and acceptance, and having a life purpose sometimes go unmet for some people, leaving them prone to become involved with extremist views and groups. — 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

Categorization

• XREF: Directly bears on the reader’s withdrawal-of-conflict hypothesis: suggests the pull is unmet needs rather than conflict itself, meaning the draw of belonging may persist after conflict recedes. — connects to: Extremist recruitment recruits through belonging and fellowship, not hatred — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 2020; Being recruited, seen, and valued is a powerful early pull into extremism.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:…, 373; Extremist groups recruit by supplying the kinship and belonging that members lacked. — 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:…, 372 (+11 more)

Broader Connections

• Scapegoat movements recruit by fulfilling needs for belonging and immortality #exemplifies (0.90)
• Group violence against subgroups grows from frustrated basic human needs seeking fulfillment #corroborates (0.88) — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 79
• Personal identity crisis can open individuals to extremist groups offering identity answers #exemplifies (0.85) — Lea Echelmeyer, Anne-Marie Slotboom, and Frank Weerman, The Putative Effect of Identity on…, 20
• Victimisation-induced isolation and rejection create the vulnerability recruiters exploit #expands (0.83) — Irene Zempi and Imran Awan, Islamophobia, 259
• The need to belong sometimes shows null or inverse effects on extremism. #qualifies (0.82) — Lea Echelmeyer, Anne-Marie Slotboom, and Frank Weerman, The Putative Effect of Identity on…, 237
• Need for significance predicts extremism mainly when combined with discrimination or activist identity #qualifies (0.80) — Lea Echelmeyer, Anne-Marie Slotboom, and Frank Weerman, The Putative Effect of Identity on…, 234
• Brutal counterterrorism can backfire by recruiting and legitimizing the enemy #exemplifies (0.80) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2276
• Conspiracy movements recruit across divergent groups by serving different emotional needs #expands (0.78) — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 271
• Some identity needs reduce rather than increase violent extremism #qualifies (0.78) — Lea Echelmeyer, Anne-Marie Slotboom, and Frank Weerman, The Putative Effect of Identity on…, 253