needs
Definition
Needs refers to states of physiological or psychological deprivation that energize and direct behavior toward their satisfaction. In the social sciences the term covers basic requirements for survival and the psychological requirements for belonging, competence, and a sense of personal worth.
In research published in Advances in Psychology, needs appear as one of the three components of the 3N framework (narratives, networks, needs), which is used to compare the psychosocial profiles of youth radicalized into composite or 'salad bar' violent extremism. The analysis draws on Singapore's first three such cases, male youths aged 14 to 19 radicalized online between September 2025 and July 2026, alongside recent events in Indonesia and the Philippines. Here the need in question is the need to restore significance lost through bullying or romantic rejection. The authors propose a 'violence-first' sequence: lost significance produces a desire to matter, nihilistic digital spaces present violence as the route to regaining it, and fragments of Islamist, far-right, far-left, and incel ideology are selected afterwards to justify violence the youth already wants. Because the need precedes the ideology, they argue that prevention should move upstream to strengthening youth resilience instead of contesting particular doctrines.
Sources: Ramakrishna & Yeo (2026)
Related Terms
- networks (1 shared article)
- salad bar extremism (1 shared article)
- nihilistic violent extremism (1 shared article)
- far left (1 shared article)
- narratives (1 shared article)
- accelerationist (1 shared article)
- composite violent extremism (1 shared article)
- Islamist (1 shared article)
- far right (1 shared article)
- true crime community (1 shared article)
Applications
Needs and Significance
The need identified in the Singapore cases is a need to restore lost significance, triggered by experiences such as bullying or romantic failure. Case Z, for example, was drawn to mass shooters who had been bullied and whose violence he read as retaliation against those who had wronged them. Violence is framed in nihilistic online spaces as a means of regaining that significance.
Sources: Ramakrishna & Yeo (2026)
Needs and Narratives
Within the 3N framework, narratives are violence-justifying ideologies. The Singapore youths borrowed symbols from Islamist, far-right, far-left, incel, and True Crime Community sources without doctrinal commitment, and authorities judged one youth's grasp of far-right and far-left concepts to be shallow. The authors conclude that this eclectic mix mainly legitimized violence already motivated by the need for significance, so ideology served as justification and was not the starting point.
Sources: Ramakrishna & Yeo (2026)
Needs and Radicalization
Unmet significance needs form the first phase of the proposed violence-first radicalization sequence, which the authors treat as a globalized form of nihilistic violent radicalization and not a uniquely Western one. This ordering leads them to recommend prevention that builds youth resilience upstream, before online networks and ideological fragments are taken up.
Sources: Ramakrishna & Yeo (2026)
