Media exposure may have some influence on an individual’s risk of radicalization, new research has found.
In Campbell Systematic Reviews, the new report included 53 studies and 23 media-related factors; 4 experimental and 49 observational studies.
“The review included quantitative studies that examined at least one media-related risk factor (such as exposure to, or usage of a particular medium or mediated content) and its relationship to either cognitive or behavioral radicalization at the individual level,” the study states.
The study showed that one-time exposure to mediated content purported to increase radicalization has a very small effect, even when considering aggressive predispositions.
Exposure to radical content over the Web, however, regardless of whether passive or active, was assocaited with a stronger relationship with radicalization.
“Overall, exposure to radical content online appears to have a larger relationship with radicalization than other media-related risk factors, and the impact of this relationship is most pronounced for behavioral outcomes of radicalization,” the report affirmed.
“While these results may support policy-makers’ focus on the Internet in the context of combatting radicalization, the quality of the evidence is low and more robust study designs are needed to enable the drawing of firmer conclusions.”
