Putting the social (psychology) into social media

Radicalization in the Digital Society: A Social Psychological Analysis

Terrorism is not a new phenomenon, it has existed for more than two millennia, developing, changing and acquiring new features and peculiarities of a particular historical period. Nevertheless, terrorism has kept one feature unchanged: it still poses a serious threat to humanity. The way a person comes to recognize the legitimacy of terrorist activity describes the process of radicalization. This article is focused on a social psychological analysis of the impact of information strategies on the process of radicalization in modern society. The relevance of addressing this problem is explained by the fact that measures to counter terrorism are necessarily based on knowledge of the psychological patterns by which radicalization occurs. The article consists of two parts: in the first part, the specifics of the problem of terrorism and radicalization within the framework of social psychological knowledge are discussed. Particular attention is paid to the fact that the process of radicalization is a form of collective response to a situation of intergroup conflict (real or imaginary). In addition, in this part of the article, the role of communication in the process of radicalization is indicated. The second part deals with the specifics of communication processes (their content and form) in connection with radicalization in the digital society.

Relationship of Work-Related Stress and Offline Social Leisure on Political Participation of Voters in the United States

In the United States (US), citizens’ political participation is 15%. Contemporary psychological models explaining political participation are based on education and socioeconomic status, which are unable to explain the overall low political participation figures. The study suggests a holistic approach, with two societal tendencies: increasing work-related stress and diminishing offline social leisure, together with a mediating effect of participatory efficacy to assess associations with the political participation of US voters. The quantitative correlational study uses structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis on the General Social Survey representative sample of US voters (N = 295, Mage = 44.49, SD = 13.43), controlled for education and socioeconomic status. Work-related stress was not significantly associated with political participation (β = 0.08, p = 0.09). Offline social leisure was positively associated with political participation (β = 0.28, p < 0.001). The mediating effect of participatory efficacy on the relationship between offline social leisure and political participation was positive and significant (β = 0.05, p < 0.001). Additional analyses, regression and SEM on the European Social Survey sample (N = 27,604) boosted internal and external validity. Results indicate that offline social leisure is more predictive than education and socioeconomic status, showing that examining societal trends leads to a better understanding of political participation.

Bovina I, V. Delibalt V, G. Dozortseva E, V. Bogdanovich N, . Rubtsova OV. Deviant online behavior in adolescent and youth circles: In search of a risk assessment model

The authors made an attempt to describe the problem of developing the concept of risk assessment of deviant online behavior of minors and young adults in social networks. The article looks into the psychological consequences of banalizing of the internet, analysis possibilities for offline and online behavior. Approaches for risk factors assessment of deviant behavior in real life are described: the qualitative (clinical), statistical (actuarial) and structured. The article systemizes the studies of risk factors, vulnerability, and deviant patterns in the context of phenomena such as aggressive, asocial, auto-aggressive, self-mutilating, suicidal, risk-taking and victim online behavior. Approaches and models of online deviant behavior are discussed; an attempt is made to build a structured model of risk assessment of deviant patterns of online behavior in the context of the cultural historical concept. On the basis of theoretical analysis, a hypothetical set of group, interindividual and intraindividual constructs is formulated, the combination of online and offline risk factors produces a model for risk assessment of deviant behavior. The article is written as part of the research project “Developing the profiling model of online behavior of minors and young adults in social networks” which was initiated by the Moscow State University of Psychology and Education.

The Social Psychology of the Black Lives Matter Meme and Movement

Since the 2012 killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, a string of publicized police killings of unarmed Black men and women has brought sustained attention to the issue of racial bias in the United States. Recent Department of Justice investigations and an expanding set of social science research have added to the empirical evidence that these publicized incidents are emblematic of systemic racism in the application of the law. The Black Lives Matter meme and movement are prominent responses to racism that have animated intense interest and support, especially among African Americans. We summarize recent social science research on Black Lives Matter. As a first step toward understanding the social psychology of the meme and the movement, we apply the dynamic dual-pathway model of protest to Black Lives Matter. Examinations of the dynamics of real-world movements such as Black Lives Matter may enrich psychology conceptually, methodologically, and practically.