Collaborative Research: Interpersonal Pathways to Radicalization & Deradicalization

Washington University, Saint Louis MO

Investigators

Abstract

Collaborative Research: Interpersonal Pathways to Radicalization and Deradicalization Political extremism around the world has increased in recent years, representing a global security issue. Despite the growing threat of extremism, there is still much we do not know about how radicalization and deradicalization occur outside of the Jihadi extremism context. The research team argues that a key driver of radicalization is interpersonal communication on social media, where potential recruits are connected with extremist thought leaders from around the world. However, interpersonal interactions in conversational settings may also have the potential to deradicalize. This project will use social media data to investigate how interpersonal communication may facilitate radicalization as well as experiments involving real conversations to investigate potential avenues for deradicalization in interpersonal settings. The findings of this project will offer key insights for policymakers seeking to limit the proliferation of extremist content on social media and deescalate and disrupt patterns of interpersonal radicalization. This project will conduct two complementary studies to investigate how interpersonal communication radicalizes and deradicalizes via informational and affective pathways. First, the researchers will develop and analyze a large-scale social media dataset containing posts and interactions between extremist leaders around the world and their followers across seven social media platforms, The dataset will be used to examine how extremists use the power of information and affect to further radicalize followers via interpersonal communication. Second, the researchers will conduct an experiment involving real-time conversations between moderate and extremist participants to test informational and affective interventions that equip moderates with conversational tools to persuade and deradicalize extremists. The findings of this project will contribute to significant advances in basic research not only on the use of social media and online communication in radicalization processes, but also how interpersonal communication strategies can be used to achieve deradicalization. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.