The System of Socio-Psychological Determinants Influencing the Emergence of Propensity to Violent Extremism Among Students

The problem of violent extremism remains relevant for modern society, posing a serious threat to its stability and security. A significant social danger is the involvement of young people, including students, in extremist movements. In this regard, the purpose of the study was to study the socio-psychological determinants that influence the tendency to violent extremism among students. The study involved 100 1st-2nd year students of the Chechen State Pedagogical University, aged 17 to 23 years. The following methods were used as diagnostic tools: “Diagnostics of dispositions of violent extremism” (D.G. Davydov, K.D. Khlomov), “Personal aggressiveness and conflict” (E.P. Ilyin), “Life satisfaction” (N.N. Melnikova), “Types and components of tolerance-intolerance” (G.L. Bardier), “Basic Beliefs Scale” (R. Yanoff-Bulman), “Structure of Ethnic Identity” (M.V. Vereshchagina), “Coping Behavior” in stressful situations CISS" (S. Norman, D.F. Endler, D.A. James, M.I. Parker), "Communication skills" (L. Michelson). Empirical results showed that the majority of students have an average level of severity of dispositions of violent extremism, however, a certain proportion of respondents (39%) demonstrate high values for at least one indicator, and 7% of respondents are characterized by high indicators for 3 or more dispositions, which classifies them as a “risk group”. Particular attention was paid to studying the influence of personal aggressiveness, life satisfaction and tolerance on the tendency of students to violent extremism. In the course of correlation analysis according to Ch. Spearman, significant connections were identified between high aggressiveness, low levels of life satisfaction and low levels of tolerance with a predisposition to extremism. Based on the results of the correlation analysis, the main socio-psychological determinants of an individual’s propensity to violent extremism were identified: aggressiveness as a personal characteristic, dissatisfaction with life, intolerance, the use of maladaptive coping strategies in stressful situations, destructive basic beliefs, problems in understanding and accepting one’s own and others’ ethnic identity , preference for aggressive communication skills. Based on the results obtained, it was concluded that it is necessary to develop and implement programs for psychological and pedagogical support and social adaptation of student youth, which will effectively counter the spread of extremist tendencies among young people and minimize the risks of their involvement in extremist activities.