Positive Associations Between Anomia and Intentions to Engage in Political Violence: Cross-Cultural Evidence From Four Countries

Abstract

Psychological research suggests that politically motivated violence (e.g., terrorism) partially stems from existential motives, and more specifically from individuals' need to achieve significance in life (SignifIcance Quest Theory [SQT]; Kruglanski et al., 2014). Interestingly, sociological research has established similar findings linking anomia-a syndrome including feelings of meaninglessness, powerlessness, isolation, self-estrangement and normlessness-with violent behavior. In line with SQT, the present contribution aimed to test for the first time if anomia could be linked with political violence. Results from a study conducted in four countries (Brazil, Turkey, Belgium, and France; N = 1,240) supported this hypothesis by revealing a consistent, small-to-medium-sized positive correlation between anomia and intentions to display political violence (r = .21, 95% CI [.14,.28]) among undergraduate samples. This link held across countries, independently of political ideology. These results highlight the theoretical and practical usefulness of considering the role of anomia in explaining violent political behavior. Public Significance Statement Politically motivated violence stems from various psychological motives such as the need to restore significance, meaning or control in one's life. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that anomia, a generalized feeling of being meaningless, powerless, isolated and alienated is linked with intentions to engage in political violence across cultures and political ideologies. Anomia may therefore constitute a single unifying psychological construct to study radicalization and violent extremism.