Thinking About Terrorism: Religious Identity on the Fear of Terrorist Attack

• In Event: The Role of Religion in Conflict Processes

Abstract

The terrorist attacks of 9/11 created a security dynamic in the international system that was characterized as “the War on Terror”. However, attitudes regarding terrorism have varied widely from country to country. Individuals in some countries feel that the “war on terror” reflects Western political biases/priorities, while others exhibit an acute fear of the possibility of terrorist attack occurring in their communities. Often issues associated with religion, democracy, and geography are utilized to explain attitudes regarding the fear of terrorism. This study focuses on the question: What attitudes make the fear of terrorist attack more salient? Given the political and religious overtones that are embedded in discussions of terrorism it seems useful to determine what specific attitudes influence individuals’ fear of terrorism. In particular, we are interested in determining the impact that attitudes associated with religious identity, nationalism, and cultural norms have on attitudes associated with terrorism. We argue that specific attitudes associated with religious identity exhibit an influential impact on whether individuals are more likely to exhibit fear of terrorist attacks. We test our predictions with data from the World Values Survey and utilizing Bayesian item response theory to determine which attitudes drive fears of a potential terrorist attack.

Authors

• Robert Thuan Brathwaite, Michigan State University

• Baekkwan Park