easp small group meeting - jerusalem, israel, 7-10 september 2009
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EASP Small Group Meeting - Jerusalem, Israel, 7-10 September 2009 Resolving Societal Conflicts and Building Peace: Socio-Psychological Dynamics Terrorism and Otherness The role of personal involvement in the shift of lay thinking from rationality to irationality Andrea Ernst-Vintila - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
EASP Small Group Meeting - Jerusalem, Israel, 7-10 September 2009Resolving Societal Conflicts and Building Peace:
Socio-Psychological Dynamics
Terrorism and OthernessTerrorism and Otherness
The role of personal involvementThe role of personal involvementin the shift of lay thinking from rationality to irationalityin the shift of lay thinking from rationality to irationality
Andrea Ernst-VintilaAndrea Ernst-Vintila
Universite de la Mediterranee – CNRS UMR 6012 EspaceUniversite de la Mediterranee – CNRS UMR 6012 EspaceUniversite de Reims Champagne-Ardenne - Laboratory of Applied PsychologyUniversite de Reims Champagne-Ardenne - Laboratory of Applied Psychology
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Terrorism as a collective risk and social phenomenon
Terrorism: objective dimension, « terrorist act »Lack of consensus on the definition of terrorismEU law on terrorism adopted in 2002 ; French Criminal code art. 421
Risk = Probability x Vulnerability How do people think about their situation with regard to risk? What makes people take, or refrain from taking, action towards risk? How do people shift from individual, reflex action to collective action?
Terrorist riskObjective factsSocial phenomenonObject of lay thinking (social representations)
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Social representations: theories of lay thinking
Practices: capital role in the making of the SRSocial representations: conditions for practices
Social representation A way of seeing which is locally and temporarily shared within a given community, which allows cognitive appropriation of risk and guides risk-related action.
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Peripheral elements
Central core
The central core Gives meaning and organises the SR Consensual and stable over time
The peripheral system Is the operating part of the SR Reflects the interindividual variability and the prescriptions for actions Subject to change over time
The structural approach to socialThe structural approach to social representationsrepresentations
Social cognitive systems = Elements + Relations between elements The more the relations between the elements, the stronger the SR Functional elements, useful for risk-related action Normative/attributive elements, used in evaluating risk
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Social representations of terrorism Depend on established terrorism-related practices Are affected by the individuals’ personal involvement
Social representations of terrorismSocial representations of terrorism
Sample 55 safety officers (FR) 55 French passengers 51 US passengers
Method Structural approach to social representations Free association test-inductor « terrorism » Prototypicality analysis (Verges, 1992)
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Marseille-Provence AirportFlight AF 8969 Algiers - Paris hi-jacked in Marseille by a commando of the IAG (December 1994)
Boston-Logan Airport Take-off airport of flights AA 11 et UA 175 crashed against the WTC, New York City (11 September 2001)
Survey locationsSurvey locations
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Personal involvementPersonal involvement
A mediator in the making of social representationsResultant of three independent components
3. Perceived capacity to act towards risk: feeling of control over risk I______________________________________________________________________________I I cannot do anything about it (-) It fully depends on me (+)
1. Risk valuation: estimated importance of risk’s stake I______________________________________________________________________________I
Terrorism is a matter of Terrorism is a matter of no importance (-) life and death (+)
2. Personal concern with risk: self-declared estimation of exposure to risk I______________________________________________________________________________I Terrorism concerns everyone, I am I feel personally and
just as exposed as anyone else (-) specifically exposed
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Participants’ personal involvementParticipants’ personal involvement
Personal involvement
Terrorist risk valuation
Min=1, Max=6
Personal exposure
to risk
Min=1, Max=6
Perceived capacity
to act (individual)
Min=1, Max=6
Perceived capacity
to act (collective)
Min=1, Max=6
FR passengersN=55 2,56* 1,78* 2,19 3,6*
US passengers N= 51 4,76* 2,41* 2,25 3,95*
Safety officers (FR)N=55 5 3,47 3,44 4,69
Significativity F(2,155)=73,28; p<.01
F(2,155)=14,95; p<.01
F(2,155)=18,69; p<.01
F(2,154)=13,59; p<.01
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Average rank
< 2,4
Average rank
>= 2,4
Frequency >= 10
Attack
Bomb
Deads
Frequency < 10
Danger
Coward
Fear
Terror
Victims
9/11
Ben-Laden
Explosion
Extremism
Fanatism
Islam
Religion
Average rank
< 2,4
Average rank
>= 2,4
Frequency >= 10
Attack
Bomb
Fear
Deads
Frequency < 10
Coward 9/11
WTC Lack of justice
Al-Qaïda Lack of safety
Plane Integrism
Ben-Laden Islam
Danger Hostages
Explosion Religion
Extremism Violence
War
Safety officers (FR) Passengers (FR)
Analysis of the free-association testAnalysis of the free-association test
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Average rank
< 2,4
Average rank>= 2,4
Frequency >= 10
Attack
Deads
Muslims
Fear
Bomb
9/11
Frequency < 10
Chaos
Murder
Al-Qaida
Middle-East
Suicide
Extremists
Innocence
Safety
Bin-Laden
Passengers FR Passagers USAverage rank
< 2,4
Average rank
>= 2,4
Frequency >= 10
Attack
Bomb
Fear
Deads
Frequency < 10
Coward 9/11
WTC Lack of justice
Al-Qaïda Lack of safety
Plane Integrism
Ben-Laden Islam
Danger Hostages
Explosion Religion
Extremism Violence
War
Analysis of the free-association testAnalysis of the free-association test
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Average rank
< 2,4
Average rank>= 2,4
Frequency >= 10
Attack
Deads
Muslims
Fear
Bomb
9/11
Frequency < 10
Chaos
Murder
Al-Qaida
Middle-East
Suicide
Extremists
Innocence
Safety
Bin-Laden
Passengers FR Passagers USAverage rank
< 2,4
Average rank
>= 2,4
Frequency >= 10
Attack
Bomb
Fear
Deads
Frequency < 10
Coward 9/11
WTC Lack of justice
Al-Qaïda Lack of safety
Plane Integrism
Ben-Laden Islam
Danger Hostages
Explosion Religion
Extremism Violence
War
Analysis of the free-association testAnalysis of the free-association test
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ConclusionConclusion
High / Low Personal Involvement: US/FR Passengers• If high personal involvement + lack of risk-related practice
• New normative items come to define terrorist risk: Deads, Muslims
Established / Weak Practice: Safety officers / Passengers• Differences in the functional aspects of the social representation
High personal involvement+lack of practice: shift in the lay thinking• Normative shift; probably a shift from social representation to nexus
Nexus• Prelogical, affective form of lay thinking; powerful symbolic force• More radical and more narrow than social representations• Commands profound collective mobilisation and clear-cut opinions• Leaves no room for reasoning or discussion
EASP Small Group Meeting - Jerusalem, Israel, 7-10 September 2009Resolving Societal Conflicts and Building Peace:
Socio-Psychological Dynamics
Terrorism and OthernessTerrorism and Otherness
The role of personal involvementThe role of personal involvementin the shift of lay thinking from rationality to irationalityin the shift of lay thinking from rationality to irationality
Andrea Ernst-VintilaAndrea [email protected]@gmail.com
Universite de la Mediterranee – CNRS UMR 6012 EspaceUniversite de la Mediterranee – CNRS UMR 6012 EspaceUniversite de Reims Champagne-Ardenne - Laboratory of Applied PsychologyUniversite de Reims Champagne-Ardenne - Laboratory of Applied Psychology
ElementSafety officers
Passengers
AttackAttackAverage rank [1,40 ; 1,72] [1,34 ; 1,62]
Frequency [19 ; 27] [23 ; 32]
BombBombAverage rank [1,77 ; 2,76] [1,79 ; 2,42]
Frequency [9 ; 16] [9 ; 16]
DeadsDeadsAverage rank [2,60 ; 3,06] [2,86 ; 3,35]
Frequency [15 ; 23] [15 ; 23]
FearFearAverage rank [1,33 ; 2,25] [2,27 ; 3,78]
Frequency [1 ; 5] [8 ; 15]
Bootstrap: calculation of the confidence Bootstrap: calculation of the confidence intervalsintervals