Arie Kruglanski: Cognition, Motivation And Radicalization

Arie W. Kruglanski is an emeritus professor at the University of Maryland, United States. Born in Poland, he has spent most of his life in the United States, where he has contributed to the development of different and important theories. Although he began studying the theory of cognitive closure, he has made contributions in various fields, reflecting his discoveries in various articles and books.

Among Kruglanski’s contributions, the need for cognitive closure, motivational preparation and the search for meaning stand out. In each of these theories you can see the influence they have on the others. In this way, the theory of the search for meaning, the last of his theories, tries to explain the motivations of terrorists from the other two previous theories.

Need for cognitive closure

The need for cognitive closure, developed by Kruglanski, corresponds to the desire to give a quick answer to a question or question that has confusing or ambiguous content. People have an incessant need to search for information. In this way, the need for closure would be the one that stops this search and helps us to form knowledge. Therefore, the need for closure would be necessary on a day-to-day basis so as not to be continually looking for information.

Those with a high need for closure quickly overcome uncertainty, using available leads. Through these clues, they draw conclusions that will become immovable. Thus, if the clues are wrong, they can defend wrong positions. Since the members of our groups are the greatest source of certainty and knowledge, they can provide us with cognitive closure. In this way, these people will tell us what the world is like, what to do in various situations, who they are and why they are important.

Motivational preparation

According to Kruglanski, people have desires when we long for something. Wishes that can be of all kinds, material or symbolic, even mixed. In addition, on many occasions, these desires arise due to the influence of the environment or our close beings. Consequently, desires have two components: magnitude and content. The magnitude refers to how much we want it and the content what we want.

On the other hand, we also have an expectation regarding that desire. The estimated probability that that wish will be satisfied. Thus, the expectation will depend on the experiences we have had and what others think. If our friends trust that we can achieve it, our expectations will be higher. In addition, other factors will influence the expectation such as optimism or cost.

Consequently, the main thing is that a desire arises, although the desire and the expectation are going to influence each other. In this way, the stronger the desire, the higher the expectations of its satisfaction. In the second case, the higher the expectations, the greater the desire. Thus, when both are high is when a goal arises and, therefore, the motivation to meet our goal.

Search for meaning

Another need we have, according to Kruglanski, is the need to have meaning. That is, feeling that we are important, that we have a goal and values ​​that operate in the background in the decisions we make. When we lose meaning or find an opportunity to gain it, motivation will awaken. This motivation is the search for meaning, which leads us, as its name indicates, to search for meaning.

Once this motivation is awakened, we will look for the means to achieve the meaning. Which are found in the different narratives or ideologies. If these narratives tell us that violence is the only possible means to achieve meaning and our social network supports the use of violence, we will end up opting for violent extremism. In other words, if our group supports violence and we are looking for meaning, we may end up using violence. According to Kruglanski, this is the path the terrorists follow.

As has been seen, Kruglanski has made great contributions to psychology. Specifically in three fields: cognition, motivation and terrorism. His discoveries have led him to new discoveries in different fields. Thus, the theories of cognition and motivation that he has developed have given way to another theory that allows us to understand how people become radicalized and end up joining terrorist organizations.