'Remember That We Suffered': The Influence of Narratives About National Victimhood on Attitudes Towards Extremism

The central aim of this study was to determine the impact of exposure to narratives about national victimhood on attitudes towards extremism, including violent extremism. The term violent extremism refers to an ideology that condones the use of violence in the pursuit of desired social or political goals. In the field of political psychology, the term collective victimhood refers to a belief that one's own group has suffered harm at the hands of other groups. The experimental study involved 1,829 emerging adults, aged 18 to 25, who declared Polish nationality. The study used Polish versions of the Extremism Scale, the Pro-violence and Illegal Acts in Relation to Extremism Scale, the Militant Extremist Mindset Scale, and the Attitudes towards Anti-immigrant Method Extremism Scale. The hypotheses regarding the impact of exposure to narratives about national victimhood on attitudes towards extremism were not confirmed. As noted in the literature, short-term experimental manipulations involving exposure to group victimhood may be less effective in attitude change than previously assumed. The study provides new insights into attitudes towards extremism among Polish youth, including attitudes towards anti-immigrant method extremism.