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The role of entitativity in perpetuating cycles of violence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2018

Virginia K. Choi
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742. vavkc@umd.edumgelfand@umd.eduhttps://www.michelegelfand.com/
Joshua C. Jackson
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27510. joshcj@live.unc.edu
Michele J. Gelfand
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742. vavkc@umd.edumgelfand@umd.eduhttps://www.michelegelfand.com/

Abstract

Whitehouse's theory on fusion can explain why suicide terrorists are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for their groups, but the following questions on violent extremism remain: (a) Why are victims of suicide terrorism often innocent bystanders? (b) Why do terrorists seem motivated by ancient conflicts? We incorporate findings from the entitativity literature to provide insights into how perceptions of in-groups and out-groups are key processes influencing violent extremism.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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