Increasing integrative complexity on convicted terrorists in Indonesia

Abstract

Located in Indonesia, the aim of the present study was to test the dynamics of integrative complexity of convicted terrorists in a series of dialogs set by the researchers. It was expected that if the meeting containing ideas related to humanity, peace, and intergroup harmony could be able to make the attendees stay until the end, cognitive complexity of the last meeting would be higher than the first meeting. Fifty nine statements were randomly collected from thirty eight convicted terrorists who participated in the meeting. The statements, then, were scored based on the level of cognitive complexity. A measure of cognitive complexity showed significant (Wilks’ Lambda = .748, F (3, 56) = 6.30, p < .001, partial eta2 = .252) increase during the process of the four meetings; compared to meeting 1, the level of integrative complexity in meeting 2, 3, and 4 were consistently higher. The findings indicate the possibility to increase the level of integrative complexity of the members of terrorist groups in a series of dialogs by highlighting the discussion about humanity and peace.