New Books in Political Science Thomas Hegghammer and Diego Gambetta eds., "Fight, Flight, Mimic: Identity Mimicry in Conflict" (Oxford UP, 2024)
Mar 28, 2026
Thomas Hegghammer, a senior research fellow and scholar of militant Islamism, discusses deceptive identity mimicry in conflict. He explores time and costly signals versus words online. Conversations cover jihadi forums, reputation systems, limits of online research, state advantage over militants, and how AI undermines time-based trust signals.
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Why Signs, Not Words, Drive Trust Online
- Deceptive mimicry exploits manipulable social signs because we infer intentions from external signals rather than minds.
- Thomas Hegghammer illustrates with police uniforms and battle scars to show costly signals beat words online and offline.
Profile Age And Activity Are Harder Signals Than Rhetoric
- On jihadist forums, users trusted profile longevity and posting volume more than loud declarations of loyalty.
- Hegghammer found age of profile and frequency were hard-to-fake, costly proxies that signaled real commitment.
Self Incrimination As A Trust Test
- Forum users prized long histories plus repeated self-incriminating posts because those actions raised the personal cost of deception.
- Hegghammer compares this to mafia tests where candidates must commit crimes to prove loyalty.
