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Adolescent Psychological Well‐being, Radicalism, and Activism: The Mediating Role of Social Disconnectedness and the Illegitimacy of the Authorities
Author(s) -
Costabile Angela,
Musso Pasquale,
Iannello Nicolò Maria,
Servidio Rocco,
Bartolo Maria Giuseppina,
Palermiti Anna Lisa,
Scardigno Rosa
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of research on adolescence
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.342
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1532-7795
pISSN - 1050-8392
DOI - 10.1111/jora.12590
Subject(s) - political radicalism , radicalization , psychology , social activism , mediation , structural equation modeling , democracy , social psychology , political science , sociology , terrorism , politics , social science , law , statistics , mathematics
The identification of factors that counter youth’s radicalization while promoting democratic activism is a timely social issue. This paper examines the association of psychological well‐being (PWB) with violent radicalism and nonviolent activism, by focusing on the mediating role of both social disconnectedness (SD) and the perceived illegitimacy of the authorities (PIoA). Two mediation structural equation models (full vs. partial) were applied to data collected from 328 Italian adolescents (14–19 years). The results showed how SD and PIoA fully mediated the link of PWB with radicalism (negatively) and activism (positively). This model was further supported when compared with an alternative one proposing PWB as a mediator between SD and PIoA. The findings are discussed in light of the existing literature and provide potential implications for practice.