This study presents selective moral disengagement as a paradigm for analyzing extremist marketing messages and developing effective countermessages. Selective moral disengagement explicates eight mechanisms common to extremist media content that can influence seemingly ordinary people to support and commit atrocities. Through a qualitative content analysis, the author investigates the use of moral disengagement mechanisms in an online propaganda magazine (Rumiyah) of the so-called Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization. This article demonstrates the extensive use of the eight moral disengagement mechanisms throughout a variety of genres of IS propaganda articles. In addition, a ninth moral disengagement strategy—humanization of perpetrators—emerged. The analysis reveals internal inconsistencies in IS’s approach to moral disengagement. The author argues that careful consideration of the use of these mechanisms in IS propaganda clarifies the understanding of IS’s marketing strategy and informs countermessaging efforts. Specific countermessaging approaches are proposed for combatting IS given these findings. Further, a roadmap is given for extending the selective moral disengagement analysis paradigm into other extremist marketing contexts, including U.S. domestic terrorism.
AltheideDavid LSchniderChristopher J. (2013), Qualitative Media Analysis, 2nd ed.Los Angeles: SAGE Publications.
3.
AlyAnneTaylorElisabethKarnovskySaul (2014), “Moral Disengagement and Building Resilience to Violent Extremism: An Education Intervention,” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 37 (4), 369–85.
4.
AndersenJan C.SandbergSveinung (2020), “Islamic State Propaganda: Between Social Movement Framing and Subcultural Provocation,” Terrorism and Political Violence, 32 (7), 1506–26.
5.
BanduraAlbert (1986), Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
6.
BanduraAlbert (2002), “Selective Moral Disengagement in the Exercise of Moral Agency,” Journal of Moral Education, 31 (2), 101–19.
7.
BanduraAlbert (2015), Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm and Live with Themselves. New York: Worth Publishers.
8.
BilazarianTalene (2020), “Countering Violent Extremist Narratives Online: Lessons from Offline Countering Violent Extremism,” Policy and Internet, 12 (1), 46–65.
9.
BlancoAmalioDavies-RubioAmandaDe la CorteLuisMirónLourdes (2022), “Violent Extremism and Moral Disengagement: A Study of Colombian Armed Groups,” Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37 (1/2), 423–48.
10.
Bleske-RechekAprilNelsonLyndsay A.BakerJonathan P.RemikerMark W.BrandtSarah J. (2010), “Evolution and the Trolley Problem: People Save Five Over One Unless the One Is Young, Genetically Related, or a Romantic Partner,” Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology, 4 (3), 115–27.
Bodine-BaronElizabethHelmusTodd C.MagnusonMadelineWinkelmanZev (2016), Examining ISIS Support and Opposition Networks on Twitter. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.
BraddockKurt (2022), “Vaccinating Against Hate: Using Attitudinal Inoculation to Confer Resistance to Persuasion by Extremist Propaganda,” Terrorism and Political Violence, 34 (2), 240–62.
15.
BraddockKurtHorganJohn (2016), “Towards a Guide for Constructing and Disseminating Counternarratives to Reduce Support for Terrorism,” Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 39 (5), 381–404.
16.
BraddockKurtMorrisonJohn F. (2020), “Cultivating Trust and Perceptions of Source Credibility in Online Counternarratives Intended to Reduce Support for Terrorism,” Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 43 (6), 468–92.
17.
BrehmJack W.SensenigJohn (1966), “Social Influence as a Function of Attempted and Implied Usurpation of Choice,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 4 (6), 703–07.
18.
CarthySarah L.DoodyColm B.CoxKatieO’HoraDenisSarmaKiran M. (2020), “Counter-Narratives for the Prevention of Violent Radicalisation: A Systematic Review of Targeted Interventions,” Campbell Systematic Reviews, 16 (3), 1–37.
19.
ColasBrandon (2017), “What Does Dabiq Do? ISIS Hermeneutics and Organizational Fractures Within Dabiq Magazine,” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 40 (3), 173–90.
FestingerLeon (1957), A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
25.
FinnelStephanieReed IIAmericusAquinoKarl (2011), “Promoting Multiple Policies to the Public: The Difficulties of Simultaneously Promoting War and Foreign Humanitarian Aid,” Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 30 (2), 246–63.
26.
FrissenThomasD’HaenensLeen (2017), “Legitimizing the Caliphate and Its Politics: Moral Disengagement Rhetoric in Dabiq,” in Authoritarian and Populist Influences in the New Media. London: Routledge, 138–64.
27.
GansewigAntjeWalshMaria (2021), “Preventing Violent Extremism with Former Extremists in Schools: A Media Analysis of the Situation in Germany,” Terrorism and Political Violence(published online January 13), https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2020.1862802.
GrizzardMatthewHuangJialingWeissJulia K.NovotnyEric RobertFitzgeraldKaitlin S.AhnChanghyun, et al. (2017), “Graphic Violence as Moral Motivator: The Effects of Graphically Violent Content in News,” Mass Communication and Society, 20 (6), 763–83.
30.
HopfTed (2004), “Discourse and Content Analysis: Some Fundamental Incompatibilities,” Qualitative Methods, 2 (1), 31–3.
31.
HsiehHsiu-FangShannonSarah E. (2005), “Three Approaches to Qualitative Content Analysis,” Qualitative Health Research, 15 (9), 1277–88.
IngramHaroro J. (2016), “An Analysis of Islamic State's Dabiq Magazine,” Australian Journal of Political Science, 51 (3), 458–77.
34.
IngramHaroro J. (2017), “The Strategic Logic of the ‘Linkage-Based’ Approach to Combating Militant Islamist Propaganda: Conceptual and Empirical,” research report, International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (April).
35.
IngramHaroro J. (2018), “Islamic State's English-Language Magazines, 2014–2017: Trends & Implications for CT-CVE Strategic Communications,” research report, International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (March).
KrippendorfKlaus (2004), Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology, 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
38.
LakomyMiron (2020), “Between the ‘Camp of Falsehood’ and the ‘Camp of Truth’: Exploitation of Propaganda Devices in the ‘Dabiq’ Online Magazine,” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism(published online February 4), https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2020.1711601.
39.
LieberPaul S.Efreom-LieberYaelRateChristopher (2010), “Moral Disengagement: Exploring Support Mechanisms for Violent Extremism Among Young Egyptian Males,” paper presented at 1st Australian Counter Terrorism Conference, Perth, Australia (November 30).
40.
Lim, Heejin, Moonhee Cho, and Sergio C. Bedford (2019), "You Shall (Not) Fear: The Effects of Emotional Stimuli in Social Media Campaigns and Moral Disengagement on Apparel Consumers’ Behavioral Engagement," Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 23 (4), 628–44.
MafimisebiOluwasoye P.ThorneSara (2017), “Vandalism-Militancy Relationship: The Influence of Risk Perception and Moral Disengagement,” International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, 35 (3), 191–223.
43.
McAlisterAlfred L (2001), “Moral Disengagement: Measurement and Modification,” Journal of Peace Research, 38 (1), 87–99.
44.
McIntoshJanetMendoza-DentonNorma (2020), Language in the Trump Era: Scandals and Emergencies. New York: Cambridge University Press.
45.
MusialJulia (2016), “‘My Muslim Sister, Indeed You Are a Mujahidah’—Narratives in the Propaganda of the Islamic State to Address and Radicalize Western Women. An Exemplary Analysis of the Online Magazine Dabiq,” Journal for Deradicalization, 9 (Winter), 39–100.
46.
Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (2016), Report on the Protection of Civilians in the Armed Conflict in Iraq: 1 May–31 October 2015. Baghdad: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and United Nations Assistance Missions for Iraq Human Rights Office.
47.
OzerSimonBertelsenPreben (2020), “The Moral Compass and Life Skills in Navigating Radicalization Processes: Examining the Interplay Among Life Skills, Moral Disengagement, and Extremism,” Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 61 (5), 642–51.
48.
PalinkasLawrence A.HorwitzSarah M.GreenCarla A.WisdomJennifer P.DuanNaihuaHoagwoodKimberly (2015), “Purposeful Sampling for Qualitative Data Collection and Analysis in Mixed Method Implementation Research,” Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 42 (5), 533–44.
49.
RedmondSarahJonesNickolas M.Alison HolmanE.SilverRoxane Cohen (2019), “Who Watches an ISIS Beheading—And Why,” American Psychologist, 74 (5), 555–68.
RobinsonMark D.DauberCori E. (2019), “Grading the Quality of ISIS Videos: A Metric for Assessing the Technical Sophistication of Digital Video Propaganda,” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 42 (1/2), 70–87.
52.
SalehNabir F.RoozenbeekJonMakkiFadi A.McClanahanWilliam P.Van Der LindenSander (2021), “Active Inoculation Boosts Attitudinal Resistance Against Extremist Persuasion Techniques: A Novel Approach Towards the Prevention of Violent Extremism,” Behavioural Public Policy(published online February 1), https://doi.org/10.1017/bpp.2020.60.
53.
SamourisAntonis (2018), “Jihadist Strategies on the Internet: How the Decline in IS Official Propaganda Raises the Visibility of Pro-IS User-Generated Content,” in Terrorism and European Security Governance, AndreasGofas, ed. San Domenico di Fiesole: European University Institute, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, 17–21.
54.
SandlerTodd (2018), Terrorism: What Everyone Needs to Know. New York: Oxford University Press.
55.
SanfilippoAntonioMcGrathLiamWhitneyPaul (2011), “Violent Frames in Action,” Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict, 4 (2), 103–12.
56.
SarmaKiran (2007), “Defensive Propaganda and IRA Political Control in Republican Communities,” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 30 (12), 1073–94.
57.
SarmaKiran (2010), “A Psychosocial Perspective on Support for Terrorism in the Wake of Attacks,” in The New Order of War, Bob Brecher, ed. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 201–22.
SimonsGreg (2018), “Brand ISIS: Interactions of the Tangible and Intangible Environments,” Journal of Political Marketing, 17 (4), 322–53.
60.
SpeckhardAnneEllenbergMolly (2020), “Breaking the ISIS Brand Counter Narrative Facebook Campaigns in Europe,” Journal of Strategic Security, 13 (3), 120–48.
61.
VerganiMatteoBliucAna-Maria (2018), “The Language of New Terrorism: Differences in Psychological Dimensions of Communication in Dabiq and Inspire,” Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 37 (5), 523–40.
62.
WelchTyler (2018), “Theology, Heroism, Justice, and Fear: An Analysis of ISIS Propaganda Magazines Dabiq and Rumiyah,” Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict, 11 (3), 186–98.
63.
WhittakerJoeElsayedLilah (2019), “Linkages as a Lens: An Exploration of Strategic Communications in P/CVE,” Journal for Deradicalization, 20 (Fall), 1–46.
64.
WignellPeterTanSabineO’HalloranKay L.LangeRebecca (2017), “A Mixed Methods Empirical Examination of Changes in Emphasis and Style in the Extremist Magazines Dabiq and Rumiyah,” Perspectives on Terrorism, 11 (2), 2–20.
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
