Radicalizing Arab University Students: A Global Emerging Threat

Diab M. Al-Badayneh, Maher Khelifa, Khawla Alhasan
2016 Journalism and Mass Communication  
The purpose of the study was to explore the factors mediating college students" radicalization. A sample of 1,116 students was drawn from four different Jordanian universities. The construct validity of the scale was estimated by calculating the correlation between the radicalization items and the negative emotion items. A positive significant relationship was found (0.12, α = 0.000), a sign of validity of the scale. The scale reliability was also strong and was estimated at 0.90 using Cronbach
more » ... Alpha. Factor analysis produced five factors explaining 45% of the total variance of radicalization. The first factor labeled "political radicalization" explained 18.5% of the variance, the second factor "religious radicalization" explained 12.7%, the third factor "violent radicalization" explained 6.4% of the variance, the fourth "group radicalization" accounted for 4%, and the fifth factor "social radicalization" only accounted for 3% of the total variance. Significant differences in student radicalization were found according to the geographical region of the university (North, Center and South), F = 14, α = 0.000. However, no significant differences were found in radicalization as it relates to gender, and type of college (i.e., Humanities vs. Pure Sciences).
doi:10.17265/2160-6579/2016.02.003 fatcat:ok3dvh3adnehxpk5qt4eiyt3fy