Sri Wahyuni Tanshzil, Syaifullah, Vini Agustiani Hadian, Endang Danial, Sarah Raudlatul Aulia, Imas Kurniawaty, Alwan Husni Ramdani, Nika Nur Aliantika
The increasing exposure of university students to radical ideologies underscores the need for preventive educational approaches that move beyond top-down and security-oriented deradicalization models, which often lack cultural resonance. This study develops and evaluates a culturally grounded digital storytelling intervention rooted in the Trisilas-Sunda philosophy to strengthen students' resilience to radicalism. The study is theoretically informed by Cognitive Load Theory, which explains how culturally familiar narratives may optimize cognitive processing and reduce resistance to counter-radical messages, and Social Identity Theory, which elucidates how indigenous value systems reinforce collective belonging and counter exclusionary identity formation. Employing a Research and Development framework integrated with a quasi-experimental one-group pretest–posttest design, the study involved 167 undergraduate students enrolled in a Civic Education course. The intervention consisted of a Trisilas-Sunda-based puppet animation embedding the values of Silih Asah (mutual learning), Silih Asih (empathy), and Silih Asuh (social care) into a culturally responsive digital narrative. Students' resilience to radicalism was measured using a multidimensional, highly reliable instrument (Cronbach's α = 0.939), and data were analyzed using paired-sample t-tests and effect size estimation. Results indicated a significant short-term increase in students' resilience scores following the intervention, accompanied by a substantial effect size. While causal inference is limited by the absence of a control group, the findings provide preliminary evidence that culturally embedded digital storytelling may enhance cognitive openness, emotional empathy, and inclusive social orientation associated with resistance to extremist narratives. This study contributes to the emerging discourse on culturally grounded counter-radicalization by demonstrating how indigenous philosophical values can be operationalized within contemporary digital pedagogies. In conclusion, culturally grounded digital storytelling based on indigenous philosophical values represents a promising and contextually relevant strategy for strengthening university students' resilience to radicalism in higher education contexts. © 2026 Tanshzil, Syaifullah, Hadian, Danial, Aulia, Kurniawaty, Ramdani and Aliantika.
Civic Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung, Indonesia; Education and International Development, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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