PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

#### Objective The dynamics of radicalization pose a threat, if not the central threat, to the fabric of modern and democratic societies. However, there is a lack of valid and reliable ways to measure Susceptibility to Radicalization in standardized population surveys. This article aims to make a substantial contribution to filling this research gap.

#### Structure of the Susceptibility to Radicalization Scale Susceptibility to Radicalization can be divided into three central subscales: Discrimination, Distrust of Democracy, and Authoritarianism. These subscales comprise a total of twelve items. A fourth dimension relates to phenomenon-specific ideologization, which refers to a meaning-giving mechanism that may be present in varying degrees. In this article, this concept is explained in passing in terms of extreme religious attitudes and measured with five items. The response categories comprise a 5-point rating scale ranging from "strongly agree" (5) to "somewhat agree" (4), "partly/somewhat agree" (3), "somewhat disagree" (2) and "strongly disagree" (1).

#### Fundamentals and Structure The identification of radicalization tendencies is an important societal concern. However, there are currently no satisfactory instruments that can be used in general population surveys to adequately capture such vulnerability. Based on the theoretical assumptions and considerations of the "Vulnerability to Radicalization" project, the three vulnerability dimensions of discrimination, distrust of democracy, and authoritarianism were identified. An extensive pool of items was compiled by reviewing a large number of proven measurement methods for these dimensions. These items were successively reduced and tested for comprehensibility through expert discussions and various testing procedures in order to construct a survey instrument that is as valid and reliable as possible. The final development and evaluation of this Susceptibility to Radicalization scale was carried out on the basis of a general and randomly selected population survey in a large German city.