Who Is Concerned about Terrorist Attacks? A Religious Profile

Ângela Leite, Ana Ramires, Maria Alzira Pimenta Dinis and Hélder Fernando Pedrosa e Sousa
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Ângela Leite: Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências Sociais, Rua de Camões 60, 4710-362 Braga, Portugal
Ana Ramires: Universidade Europeia, Faculdade de Turismo e Hospitalidade, Rua Laura Ayres, 4, 1650-510 Lisboa, Portugal
Maria Alzira Pimenta Dinis: UFP Energy, Environment and Health Research Unit (FP-ENAS), University Fernando Pessoa (UFP), Praça 9 de Abril 349, 4249-004 Porto, Portugal
Hélder Fernando Pedrosa e Sousa: Department of Mathematics (DM. UTAD), University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Quinta de Prados, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal

Social Sciences, 2019, vol. 8, issue 11, 1-16

Abstract: As part of the study on the psychological impact of terrorist acts on ordinary people, the objective of this study is to understand if religious identity protects individuals from feeling concerned about the possibility of terrorist attacks. The study was based on a sample from the World Values Survey, wave 6 (2010–2014), of 30,446 citizens of countries whose dominant religion is Christianity. According to the concern felt regarding the possibility of becoming the target of a terrorist attack, a religious profile was identified. Most of the sample reported high levels of worry about terrorist attacks. The most religious respondents, more faithful and more devoted to religious practices, are more worried about the occurrence of terrorist attacks. Opposite to what is mostly found in the literature, religion does not act as a protective barrier to the primary objective of terrorism, which consists in the use of violence to create fear. People worried about the probability of becoming a target in terrorist attacks are also victims of terrorism.

Keywords: terrorist attacks; concern about terrorism; religious profile; religion; Christianity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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