We vs. them: terrorism in an intergroup perspective

Since the attacks on the United States of America on September 11, 2001, a new interest in terrorism has been growing in psychology. Nevertheless, as underlined by many authors, no single agreement exists as to the actual definition of terrorism. In our opinion, from a psychosocial perspective, an ambiguous notion of terrorism may legitimate the ingroup/outgroup differentiation that affects intergroup relations. In this article, three studies were presented with the main aim to understand what people refer to when they talk about terrorism. In particular, the influence of ethnocentrism and importance of media information on the definition of terrorism will be analyzed. The results confirm the influence of both ethnocentrism and media. In that sense, the definition of terrorism may hide an implicit ideology on the notions of war and terrorism that enhances the ingroup/outgroup opposition.