Outsiders and Aggression: A Statistical Approach to Examining How Social Exclusion Affects Acceptance of Violence in the United Kingdom

This study explores the relationship between social exclusion and acceptance of violence in the United Kingdom. Motivated by the research question of “What is the relationship between a person’s feelings of social exclusion and their acceptance of violence in the United Kingdom?”, the study proposes two hypotheses. Hypothesis 1 presumes that higher levels of social exclusion are correlated with higher levels of acceptance of violence, whilst Hypothesis 2 assumes that an individual’s mental well-being serves as a mediator in the relationship between social exclusion and acceptance of violence. Analyzing data obtained from a survey conducted by the DRIVE Project, this study employs several statistical tests, such as bivariate analysis, factor analysis, and simple and multiple linear regression to test the hypotheses. The findings show that whilst there is no direct relationship between an individual’s social exclusion and their acceptance of violence, an individual’s mental well-being...Show moreThis study explores the relationship between social exclusion and acceptance of violence in the United Kingdom. Motivated by the research question of “What is the relationship between a person’s feelings of social exclusion and their acceptance of violence in the United Kingdom?”, the study proposes two hypotheses. Hypothesis 1 presumes that higher levels of social exclusion are correlated with higher levels of acceptance of violence, whilst Hypothesis 2 assumes that an individual’s mental well-being serves as a mediator in the relationship between social exclusion and acceptance of violence. Analyzing data obtained from a survey conducted by the DRIVE Project, this study employs several statistical tests, such as bivariate analysis, factor analysis, and simple and multiple linear regression to test the hypotheses. The findings show that whilst there is no direct relationship between an individual’s social exclusion and their acceptance of violence, an individual’s mental well-being plays a key mediating role in the relationship. Higher social exclusion scores were linked to worse mental well-being, which was then associated with a higher acceptance of violence. Mental well-being proved to be a larger predictor of acceptance of violence than social exclusion is of mental well-being. In both relationships, age proved to be a strong, statistically significant negative predictor, highlighting its key position. These findings highlight the key role that mental well-being plays in the radicalization process and provide new statistical evidence for the combination of currently fragmented social inclusion and radicalization prevention initiatives in the United Kingdom, especially in the younger generation.Show less

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Outsiders and Aggression: A Statistical Approach to Examining How Social Exclusion Affects Acceptance of Violence in the United Kingdom