Abstract:
The proposed study was carried out to determine self-esteem and stress as correlates of extremism amongst young adults. It was hypothesized that there would be a significant relationship between self-esteem and extremism, stress and extremism, and stress and selfesteem. The study was carried out in different public/private sector colleges and universities of Karachi city on graduate/ post graduate students in age range of 18-25 years. Convenient sampling was used in selecting the respondents. The sample size of 300 students (150 males and 150 females) was selected. The research questionnaires consisted of Demographic Questionnaire Form, Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS21. 1995) to measure stress, Self-Esteem Scale (SES) by Rifai (1999) and Extremism Scale (Altaf, 2002). For the ease of the respondents; all the scales were administered in Urdu language. All ethical considerations including formal permission from the test authors as well as the confidentiality of the respondents and others were taken into account during and after the research. The results imply that self-esteem and stress are related to extremism. Although no significant direct relationship could be established between stress and extremism; yet it has been found that stress has a relationship with self-esteem; which ultimately results in extreme behavior/ extremism - thus contributing towards extremism. Therefore, maintaining and facilitating in maintaining appropriate self-esteem by parents, caregivers and mental health practitioners is imperative to counter stress as well as extremism. In the end, reasons for significant and non-significant results are also discussed. Furthermore, limitations and recommendations are also suggested.
