PROVIDING A FRAMEWORK TO STUDY CAUSES OF THE CREATION AND SPREAD OF TERRORIST THOUGHTS AND BEHAVIOR (Case Study: ISIS)

In this study, the theory of "social cognition" has been proposed as a framework to study the causal explanation of the behavior of terrorists, especially ISIS as the most important terrorist group. Social cognitive theory based on individual interaction with the environment (field theory, environment) and presentation of subjects such as "the origin of cognition", "cognitive styles", "cognition patterns" and "cognitive capacity" has investigated "language” (metaphors, commentary treasures), "bio – psychological origin” (biological, neurological, character analysis, genetic), "mental structures” (the ideology, system of thought, beliefs and attitudes) and "social culture” (identity, family, group) trying to explain the roots of the formation of ISIS cognition. At this kind of exploratory research, descriptive - analytical method has been used. Firstly, necessary data were gathered from different sources, documentary and scientific reports. Then the new "theoretical model" has been proposed. This model with a comprehensive approach including psychological, political, economic, social and cultural approaches will be useful to study and explain the way and manner in which terrorist thoughts are formed and cognitive influence strategies are found.