Who Is Likely to Support Terrorism? Testing the Assumptions behind Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE)

What factors may induce support for terrorism? Addressing this puzzle is important, as such support helps to legitimize terrorist organizations. Supporters of terrorism also represent a source of potential recruits and can provide valuable funding. As such, it is imperative to look more closely at the factors associated with such support. This brief summarizes the main results from a UNDPPRIO report that investigated what factors are associated with support for terrorism globally. Using survey data from 47 countries across the world, the results showed that relationships exist between support for terrorism and a range of political, demographic, and religious factors.