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Original Articles

Measuring Political Mobilization: The Distinction Between Activism and Radicalism

Pages 239-260
Published online: 30 Mar 2009
 
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In this paper we review and extend measures of political mobilization: the increasing extremity of beliefs, feelings, and behaviors in support of inter-group conflict. Building on previous research, we introduce the Activism and Radicalism Intention Scales (ARIS). The Activism Intention Scale assesses readiness to participate in legal and non-violent political action, whereas the Radicalism Intention Scale assesses readiness to participate in illegal or violent political action. In ad-hoc samples of U.S. and Ukrainian undergraduates, and in an Internet panel survey representative of the U.S. population, Activism and Radicalism intentions formed two correlated but distinguishable dimensions. The popular “conveyor belt” metaphor of radicalization (implying that activism leads easily to radicalism and that most radicals emerge from activism) found only mixed support in our results. Discussion suggests the potential usefulness of the ARIS for learning about how individuals move from political attitudes and beliefs to political action, including political violence and terrorism.

Additional information

Author information

Sophia Moskalenko

Sophia Moskalenko received her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in 2004. She is a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Homeland Security and a research fellow at the National Consortium for Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (NC-START).

Clark McCauley

Clark McCauley is Professor of Psychology and a director of the Solomon Asch Center for Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict at Bryn Mawr College, and a co-director of the National Consortium for Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (NC-START).

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the United States Department of Homeland Security through the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), grant number N00140510629. However, any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect views of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Notes

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