Description:
Although there have been many empirical studies of terrorism within the psychology
literature, relatively few studies have theorized terrorism from the perspective of
collective action theory. The present study aimed to understand factors that predict
support for Islamist terrorism by using the Encapsulate Model of Social Identity in
Collective Action (EMSICA) perspective. To extend previous studies, we added
perception of threat and intergroup contact to the model. A correlational study using 66
terrorism detainees in Indonesia as participants found solid support for our expanded
EMSICA. The models extending EMSICA with perception of threat and quantity of
contact as predictors had improved fit indices and explained more variance in the
dependent variable support for Islamist terrorism, as compared to the standard model.
Social identity had a significant direct effect on support for Islamist terrorism and
mediated the effect of intergroup contact, perception of threat, perceived injustice, and
group efficacy on support for Islamist terrorism.