A cognitive opening is a concept in social movement theory defined as a moment in which a catalytic event, sometimes a personal crisis or socioeconomic pressure, makes a person receptive to new ways of thinking because life changes challenge previously accepted beliefs, prompting a re-assessment of world views.
It is described as a potential stage towards
radicalization
Radicalization (or radicalisation) is the process by which an individual or a group comes to adopt increasingly radical views in opposition to a political, social, or religious status quo. The ideas of society at large shape the outcomes of rad ...
. The catalytic event can be personal, such as a death in the family or a crime, or broader, such as being confronted by discrimination, socioeconomic crisis, or political repression directly as an individual or as a member of a group.
The origin of the concept is credited to
Quintan Wiktorowicz's 2005 book, ''
Radical Islam Rising: Muslim Extremism in the West''.
References
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Cognitive psychology
Social movements