Abstract The question of whether strictly religious Muslims are especially susceptible to Islamist radicalization remains a subject of ongoing debate. The present study analyzes the impact of religiosity on the development of Islamist attitudes among Muslim youth in Germany, and whether this correlation is partially mediated by adolescents’ perceptions of collective discrimination and feelings of loss of significance. This study also examines gender differences. In accordance with the General Strain Theory of Terrorism (Agnew 2010), the present study assumes that collective strain is an important factor influencing support for violent extremism. In line with the principles of the Quest for Significance Theory (Dugas and Kruglanski 2014), it can be posited that collective strain can lead to a loss of significance, which, in turn, may result in the adoption of extremist beliefs. The analysis is based on a sample of 799 ninth-grade Muslim students in Germany who completed a school survey. The findings indicate a positive correlation between religiosity and Islamist attitudes, which is only marginally influenced by perceptions of collective discrimination and feelings of loss of significance. The mediation was only significant for Muslim boys, while no mediation was identified for Muslim girls. Nevertheless, the study found that collective discrimination and loss of significance are linked to religiosity and Islamist attitudes.
Goede et al. (Wed,) studied this question.