Prevention of Youth Radicalisation Through Self-Awareness on Cognitive Biases
PRECOBIAS is a user-centred counter-narrative campaign project that centres around the mental processes and cognitive biases at stake when youngsters, especially the ones either vulnerable to radicalisation or already radicalized, are faced with extremist/terrorist discourses on social media. The project aims to counter radicalisation in the long term by enhancing digital resilience and critical thinking of the target audience. PRECOBIAS helps them get to know themselves better by revealing the mental processes and cognitive biases that underlie their interpretations and analyses. PRECOBIAS aims to bring about behaviour change, dissuading target youngsters from promoting extremist content online.
The resources produced by PRECOBIAS are:
- a preliminary Scientific Research with the objective of gathering empirical results on the nature and effects of extremist narratives in order to guide the development of the other project’s resources;
- an Online Campaign addressed at young people at risk of radicalisation conducted through gamified interactive contents, animated videos and a contest;
- an Online Course and two Toolkits addressed at teachers and social workers who are actively involved in the activities of prevention and countering of the radicalisation process by young people.
PMF Research is coordinator of the PRECOBIAS project, so it leads all the administrative aspects of the project and the whole implementation of the Online Campaign for youngsters at risk of radicalization.
