Identity Diffusion and Extremist Attitudes in Adolescence

Anna Isenhardt; Maria Kamenowski; Patrik Manzoni; Sandrine Haymoz; Cédric Jacot; Dirk Baier

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.711466

Identity Diffusion and Extremist Attitudes in Adolescence

Front Psychol. 2021 Sep 28:12:711466. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.711466. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Anna Isenhardt^{1

2}, Maria Kamenowski³, Patrik Manzoni³, Sandrine Haymoz⁴, Cédric Jacot⁵, Dirk Baier³

Affiliations

¹ Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony, Hanover, Germany.
² Institute for Penal Law and Criminology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
³ Department of Social Work, Institute of Delinquency and Crime Prevention, Zürich University of Applied Sciences, Zürich, Switzerland.
⁴ School of Social Work Fribourg, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland, Fribourg, Switzerland.
⁵ Department of Social Work, Social Policy and Global Development, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland.

Abstract

Various theoretical approaches assume that identity diffusion is an influencing factor of extremism. However, there are hardly any empirical tests on this relationship. Based on a nationwide survey of 8,317 young people in Switzerland, the study analyses whether identity diffusion is associated with right-wing extremist, left-wing extremist, and Islamist extremist attitudes. In addition, the study tests whether identity diffusion mediates the influence of family and school-related variables on extremist attitudes. The results show that identity diffusion primarily increases approval of left-wing extremist and Islamist extremist attitudes. Furthermore, identity diffusion mediates to a small extent the influence of parenting on extremist attitudes.

Keywords: Islamist extremism; academic performance; identity; left-wing extremism; life events; parenting; right-wing extremism.