A pioneering study, carried out by the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB), studied the neural interrelationships between sacred values, social exclusion and extremism with violent manifestations; this research has shown that the social exclusion of a group of people increases the number of ideological values so someone is willing to fight and die.
A worrying outcome, at a historic time when the social exclusion generated by the economic recession has failed, a very high percentage of the population, and amid the massive migration movements faced by millions of people. The marginalized can lead the individual to very radical and extreme tendencies in the way they think and act.
- The study has been carried out with neuroimaging techniques in young people from Catalonia.
- The research has been carried out by the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona.
- The Institute of Medical Research Hospital del Mar (IMIM) has also collaborated with other institutions.
- Vulnerable to radicalization.
- Moroccans.
- Residents and students in Catalonia.
Published in frontiers of psychology, this two-phase research studied the neural substrate of values perceived as non-negotiable, values to which people do not renounce under any conditions, especially values related to ideological, religious or national/community identity. These factors have an identity component that facilitates the individual’s perception of membership in a reference social group.
MRI images focused on the lower left frontal convolution, the result showed an increase in activity in this area of the brain, while the youth answered questions about the will to die and fight for their values, area of the brain linked to this type of value and menstruation processing.
The results obtained by Clara Pretus, lead us to think that social exclusion can lead to a sanctification of group values, that is, group-defended values can become sacred, as much or more than personal. This seems to occur in both neural activity and the will expressed by study participants.
If we think of the areas activated by the defense of sacred values, this study shows us that such values are treated by reasoning based on duty, “what to do”. In this case, the cost would be given little relevance. -Profit assessment, valuation that applies to values considered unsatisfactory, generally more flexible and offering more trading opportunities.
This research was carried out among a group of people very vulnerable to radicalization because of their state of permanent social exclusion, however, it may be worth stopping to think about why so many radical attitudes have emerged in our society in recent years.
Social exclusion can occur in several ways. We find it individually, but we also support it more or less in relation to the sense of belonging we have. And the truth is that we have many feelings of belonging: much more than we can identify at first.
On the other hand, recent research shows that social exclusion of any kind can lead to radicalization of ideas and attitudes, which can tell us why so many extreme opinions appear in different fields, such as politics or religion.
Perhaps it is time to review the personal and group values that each person carries, in fact, in many cases, these are just values inherited from a culture and an environment, perhaps it is time to begin to distinguish between sacred and sacred values.
We have heard and read many opinions to defend political or religious ideologies treated as sacred values, do we really want that?Do we want a society in which we exclude ourselves by values of questionable depth?This study is nothing more than a small replica in the lab, but it shows us a disturbing reality.