Social Exclusion Fosters Extremism
A pioneering study by the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) highlights the neural links between sacred values, social exclusion and extremism with violent protests. This study showed that the social exclusion of a group of people increases the number of ideological values for which an individual is willing to fight and die.
This is worrying at a time in history when social exclusion created by the economic recession threatens a high percentage of the population. Without forgetting the massive migratory movements to which millions of people are forced. According to this study, feeling socially excluded promotes radical and extreme thoughts and actions.
The object of study: the link between social exclusion and extremism
For this study led by the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the researchers used brain imaging techniques in young people residing in Catalonia. The Instituto Hospital del Mar de Investigaciones Médicas (IMIM) also participated in this study in collaboration with other institutions. The participants had the following characteristics: young boys, vulnerable to radicalization, Moroccans, residents in Spain and educated in Catalonia.
Published in the journal Frontiers of Psychology and carried out in two phases, this study shows the neural substrate of values that are considered to be non-negotiable. These values are those which an individual does not renounce under any conditions; they are essentially linked to ideology, religious identity and national / community identity. These values have an identity component that promotes the feeling of belonging to a reference social group.
Magnetic resonance images show the lower left frontal part. The result was this: the activity of this brain area increased as young people manifested their willingness to fight and die for their values. This area of the brain is the one linked to this type of values and the processing of rules.
Social exclusion, a danger
The results obtained by Clara Pretus, the first author of the article, lead us to believe that social exclusion can cause the sanctification of group values. This means that the values defended in a group could become as sacred, if not more, than personal values. And this is shown by both neuronal activity and the will of the study participants.
In view of the zones activated during the defense of sacred values, this study shows us that these values are treated through reasoning based on duty, on what to do. The cost-benefit relationship is therefore of little importance. This second relationship generally applies to values that are not considered sacred, that is, values that are generally more flexible and therefore negotiable.
The polarization of results
The participants in this study were people very sensitive to radicalization due to the social exclusion of which they were victims. And this, in a context where the appearance of a large number of radical attitudes has been flagrant in recent years in our society.
Social exclusion can manifest itself in different ways. It can be individual. But it can also, to a greater or lesser extent, be linked to an individual’s sense of belonging. What is certain is that we have many feelings of belonging … More than we can identify in a first analysis.
Recent research shows that social exclusion, regardless of the type, can promote the radicalization of ideas and attitudes. It is undoubtedly for this reason that many extreme opinions appeared on various and varied topics, the policy and the religion primarily.
Revision of values
Perhaps it is time for each of us to review our personal values and group values. In many cases, these are values inherited from a culture or environment. Then perhaps it is time to begin to distinguish between sacred values and those that are not.
There are many voices and opinions that defend political or religious ideologies that define themselves as sacred. Is this really what we want? Do we want a society in which we exclude each other because of questionable values?
Our thoughts Ostracism is a form of social punishment. It appears because of prejudice, racial or gender discrimination, beliefs or va …
