@article{ref1,
title="What does the "terrorist" label really do? Measuring and explaining the effects of the "terrorist" and "Islamist" categories",
journal="Studies in conflict and terrorism",
year="2019",
author="Baele, Stephane J. and Sterck, Olivier C. and Slingeneyer, Thibaut and Lits, Gregoire P.",
volume="42",
number="5",
pages="520-540",
abstract="Many scholars and practitioners claim that labeling groups or individuals as &quot;terrorists&quot; does not simply describe them but also shapes public attitudes, due to the label's important normative and political charge. Yet is there such a &quot;terrorist label effect&quot;? In view of surprisingly scant evidence, the present article evaluates whether or not the terrorist label--as well as the &quot;Islamist&quot; one--really impacts both the audience's perception of the security environment and its security policy preferences, and if yes, how and why. To do so, the article implements a randomized-controlled vignette experiment where participants (N = 481) first read one out of three press articles, each depicting a street shooting in the exact same way but labeling the author of the violence with a different category (&quot;terrorist&quot;/&quot;shooter&quot;/&quot;Islamist&quot;). Participants were then asked to report on both their perceptions and their policy preferences. This design reveals very strong effects of both the &quot;terrorist&quot; and &quot;Islamist&quot; categories on each dimension. These effects are analyzed through the lenses of social and cognitive psychology, in a way that interrogates the use of the terrorist category in society, the conflation of Islamism with terrorism, and the press and policymakers' lexical choices when reporting on political violence.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1057-610X",
doi="10.1080/1057610X.2017.1393902",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2017.1393902"
}