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.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Trip |first1=Simona |last2=Bora |first2=Carmen Hortensia |last3=Marian |first3=Mihai |last4=Halmajan |first4=Angelica |last5=Drugas |first5=Marius Ioan |title=Psychological Mechanisms Involved in Radicalization and Extremism. A Rational Emotive Behavioral Conceptualization |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |date=6 March 2019 |volume=10 |pages=437 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00437 |pmid=30894828 |pmc=6414414 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=McCauley |first1=Clark |last2=Moskalenko |first2=Sophia |title=Understanding political radicalization: The two-pyramids model. |journal=American Psychologist |date=April 2017 |volume=72 |issue=3 |pages=205–216 |doi=10.1037/amp0000062 |pmid=28383974 |doi-access=free |url=https://repository.brynmawr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1059&context=psych_pubs }}</ref>
It is described as a potential stage towards radicalization.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bergen |first1=Peter |title=Opinion {{!}} Why Do Terrorists Commit Terrorism? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/15/opinion/why-do-terrorists-commit-terrorism.html |work=The New York Times |date=14 June 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Trip |first1=Simona |last2=Bora |first2=Carmen Hortensia |last3=Marian |first3=Mihai |last4=Halmajan |first4=Angelica |last5=Drugas |first5=Marius Ioan |title=Psychological Mechanisms Involved in Radicalization and Extremism. A Rational Emotive Behavioral Conceptualization |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |date=6 March 2019 |volume=10 |pages=437 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00437 |pmid=30894828 |pmc=6414414 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The catalytic event can be personal, such as a death in the family or a crime,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bergen |first1=Peter |title=Opinion {{!}} Why Do Terrorists Commit Terrorism? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/15/opinion/why-do-terrorists-commit-terrorism.html |work=The New York Times |date=14 June 2016}}</ref> or broader, such as being confronted by discrimination, socioeconomic crisis, or political repression directly as an individual or as a member of a group.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Muro |first1=Diego |title=What does Radicalisation Look Like? Four Visualisations of Socialisation into Violent Extremism |url=https://www.cidob.org/en/publications/publication_series/notes_internacionals/n1_163/what_does_radicalisation_look_like_four_visualisations_of_socialisation_into_violent_extremism |accessdate=29 February 2020 |publisher=CIDOB: Notes Internacionals |date=December 2016}}</ref>
The origin of the concept is credited to Quintan Wiktorowicz's 2005 book, ''Radical Islam Rising: Muslim Extremism in the West''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Trip |first1=Simona |last2=Bora |first2=Carmen Hortensia |last3=Marian |first3=Mihai |last4=Halmajan |first4=Angelica |last5=Drugas |first5=Marius Ioan |title=Psychological Mechanisms Involved in Radicalization and Extremism. A Rational Emotive Behavioral Conceptualization |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |date=6 March 2019 |volume=10 |pages=437 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00437 |pmid=30894828 |pmc=6414414 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:Cognitive psychology Category:Social movements