2026
preprint
The Psychology of Offensive and Defensive Intergroup Violence: Preregistered Insights from 58 countries
Zermena Vazne, Samir Al-Adawi, Wilson López-López, Marcin Szulc, Mai Helmy, Fatjona Haka, Tomasz Besta, Laina Ngom, Nicole Tausch, Ann-Cathrin Coenen, Joana Neto, Michael Bender, Anna Włodarczyk, Boaz Hameiri, Xenia Daniela Poslon, Milan Obaidi, Jonas R. Kunst, Maja Becker, Khatuna Martskvishvili, Joaquín Ungaretti, Silvia Galdi, Jelena Lj. Minić, Ergyul Tair, Sasha Y. Kimel, Ángel Gómez, Romualdas Malinauskas, Inha Petrovska, Collins Badu Agyemang, Магдалена Гарванова, Emma F. Thomas, Phatthanakit Chobthamkit, Roland Imhoff, Jiří Čeněk, Tamara Mohorić, Anna Kende, Mina Marie Flatebø, Alexandra Vázquez, Sulaiman Olanrewaju Adebayo, David Lackland Sam, Timo Lajunen, Igor Grossmann, Tomislav Pavlović, Trawin Chaleeraktrakoon, Vilja Robertsson, Anna Studzinska, Gustave Adolphe Messanga, Beata Pastwa‐Wojciechowska, Paul Gill, Francesca Mottola, Lauren E. Duncan, Hoon-Seok Choi, Barbara Lášticová, Tosin Tunrayo Olonisakin, Rosa Scardigno, Adam Komisarof, Chiara Ambrosio, Willy Taffo Nemboué, Patricia Ciordaş, Renata Franc, José Villanueva-Alvarado, Gulnaz Anjum, Andrzej Piotrowski, Fiona Kazarovytska, Barry Oumar, Narine Khachatryan, David Lacko, Markus Dahlmann Sanden, Marta Miklikowska, Marion K. Schulmeyer, Simon Ozer, Anna Stefaniak, Nora C. G. Benningstad, Mark J. M. Sullman, Augusto Gnisci, Silvana Mula, Raymond Agyenim Boateng, Göksu Celikkol, Ihuoma Faith Obioma, Dieynaba Gadrielle Ndiaye, Tuğçenaz Elcil, Edgardo Etchezahar, Penny Panagiotopoulou, Felix Fernando Monteiro Neto, Islam Borinca, Claudio López-Calle, Marios Adonis, Talía Gómez Yepes, Anna Natalia Gajda, Barkan Eskiili, Narendra Thagunna, John Jamir Benzon R. Aruta, Aleksandra Cupta, E. G. Haines, Kumar Yogeeswaran, Vassilis Pavlopoulos, Brock Bastian, Pasquale Musso, Barbara Kalebić Maglica, Lotte Pummerer, imaduddin Hamzah, Bettina Rottweiler, Sona Manusyan, Sandesh Dhakal, Piyanjali de Zoysa, Mahima Raina, Shanmukh Vasant Kamble, Jano Ramos-Diaz, Ivars Austers, Michał Jaśkiewicz, Serap Arslan Akfirat, 최수영, Jack W. Klein, Colette van Laar
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Le résumé fourni par la source
Evolutionary theory and historical evidence suggest humans possess distinct psychological tendencies for defensive and offensive violence, which have insufficiently been considered in research. In a large-scale pre-registered study across 58 countries (N = 18,128), we demonstrate that violent extremist intentions manifest along two distinct psychological phenomena: defensive extremism, motivated by protecting one’s group from (perceived) threats, and offensive extremism, driven by establishing group dominance. We show that these dimensions can (a) be reliably differentiated across diverse cultural contexts, (b) are distinctively associated with psychological dispositions, and (c) systematically differentiate countries varying in macro-level sociopolitical functioning and violence. Across nations, a two-factorial structure was observed that was invariant at the scalar level. Defensive extremist intentions were consistently higher than offensive extremism in 56 out of 58 countries, suggesting greater moral acceptance of protective violence. While psychopathy was positively related to both types of violent extremist intentions, those high in Machiavellianism and narcissism demonstrated particularly higher levels of defensive extremist intentions. By contrast, those scoring high on religious fundamentalism and social dominance orientation demonstrated particularly higher levels of offensive extremist intentions. Unexpectedly, liberal political group identification was associated with higher offensive but lower defensive extremist intentions. Crucially, offensive (but not defensive) intentions were associated with macro-level societal function, including political terror and internal conflict. These findings establish that defensive and offensive violent extremist intentions represent two conceptually different forms of extremism across a large and diverse range of countries, with consequences for research and practice.
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Les sujets associés
Social and Intergroup PsychologyTerrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political ViolenceDeath Anxiety and Social Exclusion