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Copyright of Makara Human Behavior Studies in Asia is the property of DADPPRI UI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The UCLA Loneliness Scale (ULS-20) and its short version (ULS-8) are widely used to measure loneliness. However, the question remains whether or not previous studies using the scale to measure loneliness are measuring the construct equally across countries. The present study examined the measurement invariance (MI) of both scales in Germany, Indonesia, and the United States (N = 2350). The one-, two-, and three-factor structure of the ULS-20 did not meet the model fit cut-off criteria in the total sample. The ULS-8 met the model fit cut-off criteria and has configural, but not metric invariance because two items unrelated to social isolation were not MI. The final six items (ULS-6) exclusively related to social isolation had complete MI. Participants from the United States scored highest in the ULS-6, followed by participants from Germany and then Indonesia. We conclude that the ULS-6 is an appropriate measure for cross-cultural studies on loneliness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the face of uncertainty, people tend to look for ways to manage discomfort, often through religion. Growing conservatism in the Muslim society in Indonesia has encouraged people to restore meaning when dealing with uncertainties triggered by a crisis. This study aims to explore the dynamics of meaning restoration through hijra, a collective spiritual transformation process. Using a qualitative approach, findings showed that people going through hijra were driven by significance loss and potential significance gain, both taking validation in relational significance and group identity. In Indonesia, where religion is acknowledged as central to identity, religious groups become a prescription sought for closure, and all are directed towards managing uncertainty and restoring significance. The study found that individuals started the hijra journey provoked by either personal significance loss or the need to gain significance and resorted to the collective orientation of relational significance to gain closure. Once a new collective identity is established through the spiritual transformation, significance is restored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies have shed light on factors that contribute to radicalization. However, fewer studies have addressed the factors that contribute to deradicalization, especially with terrorist detainees as participants. The present study investigates the role of attitudes toward rehabilitation in deradicalization programs, and its role in predicting the outcome for these programs. We hypothesized that when terrorist detainees adopt alternative identities (identities alternative to their jihadist identity), their support for jihad as war will be lessened, even when they still hold jihadist ideology as their source of significance. To test this hypothesis, we obtained 89 interview profiles of actual terrorist detainees across 35 Indonesian prisons. We found that lesser support for jihad as war was predicted by a more positive attitude toward the deradicalization program, and this was mediated by the adoption of alternative identities. Further, the effect of the mediator on support for jihad as war was neither weakened nor strengthened by perceived significance of jihadist ideology. These findings suggest that even when a person possesses a strong ideological commitment to jihad, this may not manifest into violence when they adopt alternative identities and goals. These results were interpreted and discussed through goal systems theory and the multifinality account of radical behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to describe how group leaders operate with their social ties of jihadi terrorists, using social network analysis. Data was collected through documents and interviews from terrorist detainees who were involved in jihadi terrorism activities in Indonesia. We found that relational trust with operational leaders plays an important role in terrorist social networks. More specifically, operational leaders possess a higher degree of centrality and betweenness centrality compared to ideological leaders, as operational leaders happened to possess stronger social ties (with close friends or respected authorities). Furthermore, we also found that terrorist networks in Indonesia consist of a large group of cells with low density, where members are not strongly connected to each other. The only bridges that were strong in these social networks were those involving operational leaders. This study confirmed previous studies that terrorist groups operate in a cell system, but lead to a novel finding that ideological leaders may play a limited or indirect influence in operational networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discussions that are based on religious understanding and aimed at reducing terrorists' hostility have been used as a central part of terrorist deradicalization programs in many countries where acts of Islamic terrorism are prevalent. Currently, various psychological approaches such as presenting social support and providing counseling sessions are being applied alongside religious discussions. Observers of these programs have reported benefits and positive responses to the psychological approaches, but there is still a lack of empirical evidence confirming this. In the current study, we examine the effects of two psychological interventions—emotional expression training and cognitive flexibility training—in predicting detainees' acceptance of the idea of democratic life. We investigated the observational records taken during the psychological interventions and religious discussions. Results showed no main effect of emotional expression and cognitive flexibility in predicting one's acceptance of democratic civil life, but there was a significant interaction between the two predictors. Among those who scored high in cognitive flexibility, detainees who scored also high in emotional expression were significantly more agreeable towards the state's sovereignty over belief in an Islamic caliphate during religious discussions. Our findings suggest that psychological interventions do indeed offer benefits for detainees' deradicalization programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there have been many empirical studies of terrorism within the psychology literature, relatively few studies have theorized terrorism from the perspective of collective action theory. The present study aimed to understand factors that predict support for Islamist terrorism by using the Encapsulate Model of Social Identity in Collective Action (EMSICA) perspective. To extend previous studies, we added perception of threat and intergroup contact to the model. A correlational study using 66 terrorism detainees in Indonesia as participants found solid support for our expanded EMSICA. The models extending EMSICA with perception of threat and quantity of contact as predictors had improved fit indices and explained more variance in the dependent variable support for Islamist terrorism, as compared to the standard model. Social identity had a significant direct effect on support for Islamist terrorism and mediated the effect of intergroup contact, perception of threat, perceived injustice, and group efficacy on support for Islamist terrorism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leaders figure significantly in radicalization processes that can ultimately lead to terrorism. This article attempts to explain radicalization as a process of interaction between leaders and their followers. We argue that the process of radicalization includes five stages: pre-radicalization, self-identification, indoctrination, commitment, and jihad ideologization. In the case of the Bali bombers, the process was strengthened by external environmental conditions that enabled leaders to gain broad support from the community. In our analysis we rely on a combination of interviews with convicted terrorists and previously unexamined documentary evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]