Neuroimaging 'will to fight' for sacred values: An empirical case study with supporters of an Al Qaeda associate (2024)

Hamid, N., Pretus, C., Atran, S., Crockett, M. J., Ginges, J., Sheikh, H., Tobeña, A., Carmona, S., Gómez, A., Davis, R., & Vilarroya, O. (2019). Neuroimaging 'will to fight' for sacred values: An empirical case study with supporters of an Al Qaeda associate. Royal Society Open Science, 6(6), Article 181585. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.181585

Hamid, Nafees ; Pretus, Clara ; Atran, Scott et al. / Neuroimaging 'will to fight' for sacred values : An empirical case study with supporters of an Al Qaeda associate. In: Royal Society Open Science. 2019 ; Vol. 6, No. 6.

@article{d9982baf552847b1b4407e2f734da47d,

title = "Neuroimaging 'will to fight' for sacred values: An empirical case study with supporters of an Al Qaeda associate",

abstract = "Violent intergroup conflicts are often motivated by commitments to abstract ideals such as god or nation, so-called 'sacred' values that are insensitive to material trade-offs. There is scant knowledge of how the brain processes costly sacrifices for such cherished causes. We studied willingness to fight and die for sacred values using fMRI in Barcelona, Spain, among supporters of a radical Islamist group. We measured brain activity in radicalized individuals as they indicated their willingness to fight and die for sacred and non-sacred values, and as they reacted to peers' ratings for the same values. We observed diminished activity in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), inferior frontal gyrus, and parietal cortex while conveying willingness to fight and die for sacred relative to non-sacred values-regions that have previously been implicated in calculating costs and consequences. An overlapping region of the dlPFC was active when viewing conflicting ratings of sacred values from peers, to the extent participants were sensitive to peer influence, suggesting that it is possible to induce flexibility in the way people defend sacred values. Our results cohere with a view that 'devoted actors' motivated by an extreme commitment towards sacred values rely on distinctive neurocognitve processes that can be identified.",

keywords = "FMRI, Neuroimaging, Radicalization, Sacred values, Violent extremism, Will to fight",

author = "Nafees Hamid and Clara Pretus and Scott Atran and Crockett, {Molly J.} and Jeremy Ginges and Hammad Sheikh and Adolf Tobe{\~n}a and Susanna Carmona and Angel G{\'o}mez and Richard Davis and Oscar Vilarroya",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 The Authors.",

year = "2019",

month = jun,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1098/rsos.181585",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "6",

journal = "Royal Society Open Science",

issn = "2054-5703",

publisher = "The Royal Society",

number = "6",

}

Hamid, N, Pretus, C, Atran, S, Crockett, MJ, Ginges, J, Sheikh, H, Tobeña, A, Carmona, S, Gómez, A, Davis, R & Vilarroya, O 2019, 'Neuroimaging 'will to fight' for sacred values: An empirical case study with supporters of an Al Qaeda associate', Royal Society Open Science, vol. 6, no. 6, 181585. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.181585

Neuroimaging 'will to fight' for sacred values: An empirical case study with supporters of an Al Qaeda associate. / Hamid, Nafees; Pretus, Clara; Atran, Scott et al.
In: Royal Society Open Science, Vol. 6, No. 6, 181585, 01.06.2019.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Neuroimaging 'will to fight' for sacred values

T2 - An empirical case study with supporters of an Al Qaeda associate

AU - Hamid, Nafees

AU - Pretus, Clara

AU - Atran, Scott

AU - Crockett, Molly J.

AU - Ginges, Jeremy

AU - Sheikh, Hammad

AU - Tobeña, Adolf

AU - Carmona, Susanna

AU - Gómez, Angel

AU - Davis, Richard

AU - Vilarroya, Oscar

N1 - Publisher Copyright:© 2019 The Authors.

PY - 2019/6/1

Y1 - 2019/6/1

N2 - Violent intergroup conflicts are often motivated by commitments to abstract ideals such as god or nation, so-called 'sacred' values that are insensitive to material trade-offs. There is scant knowledge of how the brain processes costly sacrifices for such cherished causes. We studied willingness to fight and die for sacred values using fMRI in Barcelona, Spain, among supporters of a radical Islamist group. We measured brain activity in radicalized individuals as they indicated their willingness to fight and die for sacred and non-sacred values, and as they reacted to peers' ratings for the same values. We observed diminished activity in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), inferior frontal gyrus, and parietal cortex while conveying willingness to fight and die for sacred relative to non-sacred values-regions that have previously been implicated in calculating costs and consequences. An overlapping region of the dlPFC was active when viewing conflicting ratings of sacred values from peers, to the extent participants were sensitive to peer influence, suggesting that it is possible to induce flexibility in the way people defend sacred values. Our results cohere with a view that 'devoted actors' motivated by an extreme commitment towards sacred values rely on distinctive neurocognitve processes that can be identified.

AB - Violent intergroup conflicts are often motivated by commitments to abstract ideals such as god or nation, so-called 'sacred' values that are insensitive to material trade-offs. There is scant knowledge of how the brain processes costly sacrifices for such cherished causes. We studied willingness to fight and die for sacred values using fMRI in Barcelona, Spain, among supporters of a radical Islamist group. We measured brain activity in radicalized individuals as they indicated their willingness to fight and die for sacred and non-sacred values, and as they reacted to peers' ratings for the same values. We observed diminished activity in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), inferior frontal gyrus, and parietal cortex while conveying willingness to fight and die for sacred relative to non-sacred values-regions that have previously been implicated in calculating costs and consequences. An overlapping region of the dlPFC was active when viewing conflicting ratings of sacred values from peers, to the extent participants were sensitive to peer influence, suggesting that it is possible to induce flexibility in the way people defend sacred values. Our results cohere with a view that 'devoted actors' motivated by an extreme commitment towards sacred values rely on distinctive neurocognitve processes that can be identified.

KW - FMRI

KW - Neuroimaging

KW - Radicalization

KW - Sacred values

KW - Violent extremism

KW - Will to fight

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U2 - 10.1098/rsos.181585

DO - 10.1098/rsos.181585

M3 - Article

C2 - 31312469

AN - SCOPUS:85068214917

SN - 2054-5703

VL - 6

JO - Royal Society Open Science

JF - Royal Society Open Science

IS - 6

M1 - 181585

ER -

Hamid N, Pretus C, Atran S, Crockett MJ, Ginges J, Sheikh H et al. Neuroimaging 'will to fight' for sacred values: An empirical case study with supporters of an Al Qaeda associate. Royal Society Open Science. 2019 Jun 1;6(6):181585. doi: 10.1098/rsos.181585