Passion for a Cause, Passion for a Creed: On Ideological Passion, Identity Threat, and Extremism

Passion energizes and directs both peaceful and violent ideologically inspired movements. The type of ideological passion that underlies people's political or religious commitment was proposed to moderate the effect of social identity–threatening circumstances on their choice of activist tactic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of personality 2012-06, Vol.80 (3), p.573-602
Main Authors: Rip, Blanka, Vallerand, Robert J., Lafrenière, Marc-André K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activism
Activists
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Aggression
Emotions
Extremism
Extremists
Female
Hatred
Humans
Identity
Ideology
Intergroup relations
Islam
Male
Middle Aged
Motivation
Muslims
Perception
Personality psychology
Personality traits
Political affiliation
Quebec
Religious affiliation
Religious commitment
Self Concept
Social Identification
Surveys and Questionnaires
Threat
Values
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Summary:Passion energizes and directs both peaceful and violent ideologically inspired movements. The type of ideological passion that underlies people's political or religious commitment was proposed to moderate the effect of social identity–threatening circumstances on their choice of activist tactics. Ideological passion was defined as a strong inclination toward a loved, valued, and self‐defining cause, ideology, or group in which people invest considerable time and energy. Harmonious ideological passion was expected to promote peaceful activism and nonviolence partly because it is anchored in a strong and secure sense of identity—one that facilitates nondefensiveness in identity‐threatening circumstances. Obsessive ideological passion, in contrast, was expected to engender hatred and aggressive extremism in identity‐threatening circumstances partly because it is anchored in a strong, but insecure, sense of identity. Results from 2 studies, conducted with nationalist activists (N = 114) and devout Muslims (N = 111), supported these hypotheses. Implications for the motivation/passion and intergroup literatures are discussed.
ISSN:0022-3506
1467-6494
DOI:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2011.00743.x