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Violence in Ideological and Non‐Ideological Groups: A Quantitative Analysis of Qualitative Data 1
Author(s) -
Mumford Michael D.,
BedellAvers Katrina E.,
Hunter Samuel T.,
Espejo Jazmine,
Eubanks Dawn,
Connelly Mary Shane
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2008.00358.x
Subject(s) - ideology , indoctrination , social psychology , psychology , politics , political science , law
Multiple models have been proposed to account for violence among ideological groups. To identify critical variables contributing to violent behavior in these groups, violent ideological groups were compared to relevant comparison groups. A historically based content analysis was conducted to assess these groups with respect to a number of variables examining leader, group, organizational, and environmental attributes held to influence violence. Discriminant analyses revealed that violent ideological groups differed from comparison groups with respect to leader extremism, group righteousness, organizational indoctrination, and environmental conflict and disruption. Regression analyses revealed that these discriminant functions predicted a number of notable violent and ideological criteria. The implications of these findings for understanding the origins of violence in ideological groups are discussed.