In the Shadow of Terror

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In the Shadow of Terror Zahava Solomon PhD & Avital Laufer Available online: 22 Sep 2008

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In the Shadow of Terror: Changes in World Assumptions in Israeli Youth Zahava Solomon Avital Laufer

SUMMARY. This study examined the effects of terror on world assumptions in Israeli youth. The sample comprised 2,999 adolescents aged 13-16 who were exposed to different levels of terror. Relations of objective and subjective exposure to terror, life events, ideological, religious commitment, and social support with world assumptions were assessed. Results show that personal and social resources made a more substantial contribution to the explained variance of world assumptions than exposure to terror. Implications of the associations between religious and ideological commitment and social support with world assumptions are discussed. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address: Website: © 2004 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]

Address correspondence to: Zahava Solomon, PhD, Adler Research Center, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel (E-mail: [email protected]). This study was supported by the Adler Center, Tel Aviv University. [Haworth co-indexing entry note]: “In the Shadow of Terror: Changes in World Assumptions in Israeli Youth.” Solomon, Zahava, and Avital Laufer. Co-published simultaneously in Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma (The Haworth Maltreatment & Trauma Press, an imprint of The Haworth Press, Inc.) Vol. 9, No. 3/4, 2004; and: The Trauma of Terrorism: Sharing Knowledge and Shared Care, An International Handbook (ed: Yael Danieli, Danny Brom, and Joe Sills) The Haworth Maltreatment & Trauma Press, an imprint of The Haworth Press, Inc., 2005. Single or multiple copies of this article are available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service [1-800-HAWORTH, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (EST). E-mail address: [email protected]].

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THE TRAUMA OF TERRORISM


KEYWORDS. Terror, world assumptions, adolescents, religion Intifada El Aqsa, the Palestinian uprising that commenced in 2000 with no end in sight, is being fought in densely populated areas. Both Palestinian and Israeli children are thus inevitably exposed to terror. No place in Israel is safe, but some areas are at higher risk than others. The settlements in the disputed territories have often been attacked and settlers, including children, killed or wounded in their homes. Several other areas of Israel within the internationally accepted borders have also been repeatedly hit by terror. Hundreds of Israeli children and adults have been killed and wounded, mostly by suicide bombers in crowded public places. Prolonged and repeated exposure to political violence has often been implicated in numerous psychological problems and may affect many aspects of the survivor’s life, including cognitions (e.g., Ehlers & Clark, 2000). Among the cognitive changes that have been ascribed to exposure to trauma are changes in the individual’s world assumptions (WAS). Several theoreticians (e.g., Janoff-Bulman, 1989) argue that some perceptions or world assumptions protect us from fully appreciating our vulnerability and that exposure to catastrophes unsettles or even shatters the illusion of safety, and forces people to examine and revise their assumptions and often replace them with new and less positive ones. Janoff-Bulman (1989) developed a conceptual model of the relevant world assumptions and an instrument to measure them. This model maintains that there are three primary categories of perception of the world: (a) Benevolence of the World, (b) Meaningfulness of the World, and (c) Worthiness of the Self. Each consists of several assumptions. Benevolence of the World (BW) concerns the degree to which one views the impersonal world and people positively or negatively. The more positive one’s assumptions are in this category, the more one expects good things, rather than bad, to happen and the more one views people as basically good, kind, helpful and caring. Meaningfulness of the World (MN) concerns the way in which outcomes are distributed. Three dimensions are at issue: justice, controllability, and randomness. The assumption that the world is just entails the belief that people get what they deserve and deserve what they get. The assumptions that outcomes are controllable represents the belief that people can directly control their world through their own behavior and minimize their vulnerability by engaging in the “proper” behaviors (e.g., caution, foresight). The assumption that outcomes are random entails the belief that they occur by chance and that there is little that one can do to sway their course. These three assumptions are


Zahava Solomon and Avital Laufer

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not mutually exclusive. People are inclined to hold all three of them to different degrees. Worthiness of the Self (SW) involves three assumptions about the self and the world. These pertain to one’s self-worth, self-controllability, and luck. Self-worth entails the degree to which individuals perceive themselves as good, decent, and moral persons. Self-controllability portrays the degree to which they view themselves as engaging in the “right” behaviors (e.g., precautionary, appropriate) to minimize their vulnerability to negative outcomes. Luck entails the belief that they are somehow protected from ill fortune, though they cannot point to anything in their character or behavior to account for this protection. The more one views oneself as a moral individual, who engages in the right behaviors, and as a lucky person, the greater one’s sense of worthiness and, presumably, the less one’s vulnerability to negative events. These compelling theoretical formulations were assessed in several studies in adults (e.g., Magwaza, 1999; Solomon, Iancu, & Tyano, 1997) but, as far as we know, never in children and young adolescents. The present study aims to fill this gap in the literature and assess the relationship between exposure to political and world assumptions in Israeli youth. The noxious effects of traumatic stress are often modified or attenuated by personal and social attributes. Among the most prominent socio-cultural variables that have been identified as stress buffers are ideology, religion and social support. Several studies have shown that adult and youth with higher religious or ideological commitment may be less vulnerable to the harmful effects of stress (e.g., Kostelny & Garbarino, 1994). Religious or ideological beliefs may give meaning to traumatic experiences and suffering and hence attenuate the noxious effects (Bettelheim, 1961; McIntosh, Silver, & Wortman, 1993). In addition, the protective role of social support derived from family members or belonging to a larger social group has been repeatedly documented. Studies found that social support buffers the detrimental effects of stress and is implicated in enhanced psychological adjustment among children and youth exposed to political violence (Punamaki, Qouta, & El-Saraaj, 2001). The present study aims to assess (a) the relationship of past life events, recent life events and exposure to terror to world assumptions; and (b) the unique and combined contribution of several recognized stress buffers: ideological commitment, religious commitment and social support to world assumptions of Israeli youth in the aftermath of a wave of terror attacks.

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METHOD


Participants and Methodology The sample is comprised of 2,999 adolescents from grades 7-9 from four zones: (a) Areas within the international border, not exposed to terror incidents; (b) Areas within the green line that were exposed to terror; (c) Areas in the disputed territories which had low levels of terrorist incidents; and (d) Zones in the territories with repeated exposure to terrorist incidents. In each zone, we randomly chose one secular and one religious high school. The questionnaires were filled out in the classes in the presence of a research assistant. The participants included 42.2% boys and 57.8% girls. 35.5% of the participants were in grade 7, 36.5% in grade 8, 26.9% in grade 9, and 1% in grade 10. Of all the participants, 0.7% were ultra-orthodox, 39.0% were religious, 27.4% were traditional, and 32.9% were secular. When defining their economic situation, 0.6% of the students classified their status as very low, 4.3% as low, 70.4% as similar to their friends, and 20.4% as above that of their friends, and 4.3% as very high. Measures Sociodemographic, Life Events, and Social Support. We asked the youth about gender, religious observance, political stance, economic status, and parents’ education and occupation. In addition, the questionnaire asked the participants to list any lifetime and recent life events (e.g., death or severe illness). Exposure to Terror. Exposure to terror was assessed via Lavi’s exposure questionnaire (Lavi & Solomon, 2004). In its present form, the questionnaire lists seventeen terror-related traumatic events (e.g., a relative was shot at in a terror attack). Factor analysis has revealed four zones of exposure that matched the four sampled areas. Therefore, for further analysis it was decided to include only the exposure of the child (i.e., the total number of terror incidents which the respondent endorsed). World Assumptions Scale. The World Assumptions Scale (WAS; Janoff-Bulman, 1989) self-report scale examines subjects’ cognitive schemes. Three global indices including benevolence of the world (BW), meaningfulness of the world (MN), and worthiness of the self (SW) are calculated by summing responses across the items with higher scores indicating higher beliefs in this assumption. The questionnaire was translated into Hebrew using back translation. For the Hebrew version, an α = 0.78 for BW was achieved and for SW, α = 0.77 for MN was achieved.



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Ideological Commitment. This questionnaire was devised for this study to assesses ideological commitment regardless of the context of the political view. It is comprised of 3 factors: (a) practical commitment (e.g., I am willing to participate in demonstrations) (α = .87); (b) ideological conviction (α = .68); and (c) intolerance of other political views (α = .72). A global score, which is the average number, was calculated and three levels of ideological commitment were defined as low (between 1-2), medium (2-4), and high (4 and above). The Revised Religious Orientation Scale. The revised Religious Orientation Scales (Gorsuch & McPherson, 1989) was used to assess intrinsic and extrinsic religious orientations. The questionnaire was translated into Hebrew using back translation. Factor analysis yielded three factors that were different from the original factors obtained for Christian subjects: (a) Religion as a lifestyle, which reflects the extent to which a person runs his life according to religious values (α = .90). (b) Religion as a social aspect (e.g., I attend the synagogue because I enjoy meeting people) (α = .78). (c) Religion as defining identity (α = .69). In addition, an average score was computed and three levels (low, medium and high) of religious commitment were defined. Social Support. Social support was assessed via the Support Persons Scale (Mailgram & Toubiana, 1996); the original questionnaire was in Hebrew. Factor analysis for this study yielded three groups of supporters: (a) family (α = .75); (b) professional (e.g., teacher, counselor) (α = .78), and (c) friends (only 1 item). Level of support was divided into low (below 2.5) and high (2.5 and above). Neighborhood Cohesion Instrument. The Neighborhood Cohesion Instrument (NCI; Buckner, 1988 in Seidman et al., 1995) was used to assess cohesion and sense of connectedness to one’s community. This scale has reportedly good psychometric properties. The questionnaire was translated from English to Hebrew using back translation. Subjects were divided into 2 groups: those reporting low sense of connectedness (below 2.5) and high level of connectedness (2.5 and above). RESULTS The relationships between number of negative life events and the three indices of WAS were examined via a one-way analysis of variance. Results reveal a significant difference among the groups only in BW, F(2,2029) = 5.87, p < 0.01. Scheffe’s test indicated that children who had experienced three or more life events in the course of their life held more negative views of the


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world than children who experienced two or less negative events. With regard to recent life events, results show that children who had experienced two life events in the last year endorsed more negative BW and SW than children who did not experience stressful life events in the previous year, F(3,2029) = 6.81, p < 0.001 for BW; F(3,2002) = 3.80, p < 0.05 for SW. In terms of exposure to terror incidents, a one-way analysis of variance was performed. Exposure was divided into 5 levels ranging from 0 (no exposure) to 4 (6 or more terror events). Contrary to expectation, results indicate that children who were exposed to 6 or more terror events perceive the world as more meaningful and benevolent than children who were exposed to 3 or less terror events, F(4,2026) = 16.66, p < 0.001 for BW; F(4,1967) = 12.93, p < 0.001 for MN. We also examined the relationships between WAS and ideological and religious commitment and social support. One-way analysis of variance reveals that there are significant differences in all three indices of WAS according to level of reported ideological commitment, F(2,2029) = 27.31, p < 0.001 for BW; F(2,1970) = 27.69, p < 0.001 for MN; F(2,2002) = 22.64, p < 0.001 for SW. Results of the Scheffe test revealed that children who are less ideologically committed report more negative BW, MN, and SW than children who are more ideologically committed. With regard to religious commitment, one-way analysis of variance reveals significant differences in all indices of WAS, F(2,2029) = 14.03, p < 0.001 for BW; F(2,1970) = 18.75, p < 0.001 for MN; F(2,2002) = 3.60, p < 0.05 for SW. The Scheffe test shows that children who report low religious commitment perceive the world more negatively than children characterized by high religious commitment. A series of two-tailed t-tests was conducted to assess the relationships between the measures of social support and the WAS indices. Results reveal that children who tend to report that there is someone with whom they can share their feelings in the aftermath of terror perceive the world and people as more benevolent and also endorse higher SW than children who have no one to turn to, t(1892) = ⫺5.46, p < 0.001 for BW; t(447.05) = ⫺6.50, p < 0.001 for SW. Similarly, children who turn to their family to share their feelings in the aftermath of terror also view the world and themselves more positively [t(1142.52) = ⫺4.99, p < 0.001 for BW] [t(1166.20) = ⫺6.91, p < 0.001 for SW]. In the same vein, children who share feelings connected with terror with their friends see the world as more benevolent and meaningful and themselves as more worthy, t(2028) = ⫺6.71, p < 0.001 for BW; t(1969) = ⫺3.45, p < 0.01 for MN; t(1298.63) = ⫺5.05, p < 0.001 for SW. With regard to feeling connected with their community, children who reported a stronger sense of connectedness held more positive world assumptions as indicated in all three



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WAS indices than children who endorsed a weaker sense of connectedness, t(2028) = ⫺9.35, p < 0.001 for BW; t(1385.21) = ⫺2.93, p < 0.01 for MN; t(2001) = ⫺7.05, p < 0.001 for SW. To assess the unique and cumulative contributions of the independent variables to WAS we conducted a series of stepwise linear regressions for the three WAS scores. In the first step of the regression, sociodemographics and life events were entered. In the second step, exposure to terror was entered. The third step comprised religious and ideological commitment, and the fourth the social support measures (see Table 1). The regression model for BW explained 27.9% of the variance. The most significant contribution was made by the social support and religious and ideological commitment (R2 change of 12.2% for social support, and 9.8% for ideology and religious commitment). Youth who tended to perceive the world and people as benevolent reported less fear in the aftermath of terror; were willing to act on behalf of their ideology; endorsed intrinsic religious commitment; and received support from their family and friends. A similar regression was computed for MN (see Table 1). The model explained 15.35% of the variance. The most significant contribution was made by religious and ideological commitment (R2 change of 10.7%). Youth who endorse high intrinsic religious commitment, who are intolerant of other political views, and who are self reliant and do not seek social support from family endorse more MN. Finally, a stepwise linear regression was performed for SW. The model explains 26.6% of the variance. The major contribution was made by the social support variables (R2 change of 24.2%). Children who report more general support report more enhanced sense of self worth. DISCUSSION This study assessed the effects of stress and trauma on world assumptions. Janoff-Bulman (1992) used the term “traumatic life events,” and the consequent studies included a large variety of events. Her choice to use the term “traumatic life events” seems to have left room for other works that examined both traumatic and stressful events. These studies show conflicting results with some studies supporting the theory (e.g., Magwaza, 1999; Solomon et al., 1997) while others do not (e.g., McDermut, Haaga, & Kirk, 2000; Overcash, Calhoun, Cann, & Tedeschi, 1996). The literature is instructive in suggesting that a more refined conceptualization of traumatic life events is needed. Studies show that the effects of traumatic versus stressful events are more detrimental for world assumptions in adults (e.g., Magwaza, 1999). Repeated

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THE TRAUMA OF TERRORISM TABLE 1. Stepwise Linear Regression Models for WAS BW


2

Step 1 1 Gender Grade Life events Current life events Step 2 Gender Grade Life events Current life events Fear of terror 2 Int.Exposure–religious Step 3 Gender Grade Life events Current life events Fear of terror 2 Int.Exposure–religious Practical commitment Ideological conviction Intolerance of other views Relig. as a lifestyle Relig. as social aspect Relig. as defining identity Step 4 Gender Grade Life events Current life events Fear of terror 2 Int.Exposure–religious Practical commitment Ideological conviction Intolerance of other views Relig. as a lifestyle Relig. as social aspect Relig. as defining identity Community support Family support Friend support Professional support 2 Adj. R

⫺.07 .18 ⫺.01 ⫺.04

MN R2 chng. 3.7

2

.05 .06 ⫺.04 .01

***

** **

* *

10.7 .05 ⫺.00 ⫺.05 .04 ⫺.01 ⫺.07 ⫺.03 ⫺.06 .15 .24 ⫺.13 .10

** ** * *** **

*** **

** *** 27.9

*** *

*

3.4 .09 ⫺.04 ⫺.05 .05 ⫺.03 ⫺.06 ⫺.04 ⫺.07 .15 .23 ⫺.11 .08 .01 ⫺.13 ⫺.01 ⫺.01

** ** ** *

2.4 .05 .02 ⫺.00 ⫺.01 .02 .13 .13 ⫺.02 .02 .09 ⫺.05 .05

** *** ** *

12.2 .00 .04 ⫺.04 ⫺.01 ⫺.10 ⫺.10 .13 ⫺.12 ⫺.06 .19 ⫺.12 .03 .07 .18 .21 .03

.04 .04 ⫺.00 ⫺.03 .03 .07

**

9.8 ⫺.08 .09 ⫺.03 ⫺.02 ⫺.06 ⫺.12 .18 ⫺.11 ⫺.06 .24 ⫺.14 .05

.3

.9 .03 .02 ⫺.06 .02 .01 ⫺.11

***

R2 chng. .5

B .01 .02 ⫺.00 ⫺.02

2.2 ⫺.12 .13 ⫺.03 ⫺.03 ⫺.06 ⫺.16

SW R2 chng. .3

*

24.2 .10 ⫺.04 .00 ⫺.02 ⫺.03 .14 .05 ⫺.01 .03 .00 ⫺.02 .02 .10 .26 .20 .12

** *** *

**

15.3

*

**

** *** *** * 26.6

p < .05 p < .01 p < .001 1(0 = girls 1 = boys) 2Due to the higher exposure of religious youth to terror attacks, exposure to terror was included in the model as an interaction with religiosity.



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terror attacks that are maliciously committed are therefore expected to affect negatively cognitive schemes in youth. The results of this study reveal a complex picture. Whereas life events were associated with negative world assumptions, exposure to terror was not. Contrary to expectation, youth who were exposed to more terror-related events endorsed more positive perceptions of BW and MN. What can account for this surprising finding? It seems that the children who were exposed to life events came from all sectors of Israeli society, but the children who were exposed to the highest levels of terror constitute a unique group. They live in remote secluded settlements in the occupied territories and are characterized by both high religious and ideological commitments. Furthermore, these small, close-knit settlements provide their youth with a highly cohesive and supportive environment. These findings raise the need to assess not only the characteristics of the traumatic event, but also to examine the personal attributes of survivors and their social world. When we examined the association between personal attributes, we found that youth with strong religious and ideological commitment and social support reported more positive perceptions as reflected in all three indices of world assumptions: BW, MN, and SW. The role played by these personal attributes became even more salient when we examined the results of the multiple regressions. Analysis showed that in all three world assumptions indices, the contribution of both types of life events and terror was marginal. On the other hand, the contribution of religious and ideological commitment and social support was most significant. This suggests that as far as adolescents are concerned the social milieu has a more powerful effect on the interpretation and meaning of their experiences and thus also on their WAS than the events themselves. This finding compels the reexamination of Janoff–Bulmann’s (1992) assumptions. She had maintained that in working through the traumatic experience one has to change or accommodate one’s basic assumptions and thus give them a new meaning. Not all researchers agree with this contention. Some claim that the assimilation can be done through other avenues, including religious schema (e.g., Overcash et al., 1996). Religion constitutes a cognitive schema that may help a person interpret the world and guide behavior (Koenig, 1995). The Jewish religion entails explicit guidance for coping with trauma and loss by stating: “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1: 21; King James Version) and provides meaning to suffering. Religion thus portrays trauma and suffering as integral parts of life rather than as external events that challenge one’s cognitive assumptions. Overcash et al. (1996) write: “religious beliefs may be more resilient than empirical assumptions about the


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world, perhaps because religious beliefs are less subject to empirical disconfirmation” (p. 462). They found that traumatic events did not challenge or shatter existing schema but rather strengthened it. At the same time, religion is a multifaceted concept. While intrinsic religious orientation (i.e., observance of commandments) was positively related to WAS, extrinsic religious orientation (i.e., religion as a social obligation) was negatively associated with WAS. Intrinsic orientation implies that religion is the goal itself, whereas extrinsic orientation assumes that religion is a means for some other aim (e.g., social status, security) (Allport & Ross, 1967). Previous studies have also linked intrinsic religious orientation with well-being and mental health and extrinsic orientation with high levels of anxiety, and low self-esteem. (Bergin, Masters, & Richards, 1987; Pargament et al., 1992). We therefore speculate that when facing adversity individuals with intrinsic religious orientation will be helped by their religious schema whereas those who hold extrinsic religious orientation will not be served and protected by the religious prism and their WAS will be challenged. Our findings also supported the protective role of ideology that had been found in several studies (Kostelny & Garbarino, 1994; Punamaki et al., 2001). Bettelheim (1961), for example, who survived the Holocaust, observed that inmates who were religious or held a strong ideological conviction fared better than other prisoners. He argued that their enhanced coping stemmed from their ability to ascribe meaning to their suffering. In Janoff-Bulman’s (1992) terms, inmates who did not have the psychological protection of religion and ideology had to undergo the painful process of rebuilding the cognitive schema, which in turn was reflected in their intense suffering. Terror Management Theory (Becker, 1971) holds that the major aim of culture is to protect people from death-related paralyzing anxiety. Humanity created culture and within it structures such as religion and ideology to provide a sense of order and stability that help make sense of human experiences. Culture also plays a role in protecting self esteem by linking the individual to a larger structure that will endure after his or her death. Studies found that when death anxiety is aroused, people tend to reaffirm their connections with cultural structures which in turn help them keep their anxiety at bay (e.g., Greenberg et al., 1990; Sowards et al., 1991). Our findings show that the use of ideology and religion made a major contribution to WB and MN but only a marginal contribution to SW. It seems that while religion and ideology assist in meaning making they do not help maintain SW. Social support made the most significant contribution to SW. Israeli youth who received support from numerous sources reported an enhanced self worth. This finding is consistent with a considerable body of research that sug-



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gests that self esteem in adolescents stems mostly from ties with and input from their social network (Cotterell, 1992; Gecas & Seff, 1990). The results of this study suggest that the impact of traumatic events requires not only the consideration of various aspects of world assumptions but also the characteristics of both the person and the social environment. Results show different patterns among the three world assumptions. Meaningfulness of the World seems to stem from existing cultural assumptions; Benevolence of the World is affected by both culture and the adolescent’s social world; and Self Worthiness is most affected by the adolescent’s social network. It thus seems that these three world assumptions should not be viewed as one entity but rather as basic schemes reflecting different aspects of a person’s life. REFERENCES Becker, E. (1971). The birth and death of meaning. New York: Free Press. Bergin, A. E., Master, K. S., & Richards, P. S. (1987). Religiousness and mental health reconsidered: A study of an intrinsically religious sample. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 34, 197-204. Bettelheim, B. (1961). The informed heart. New York: Free Press. Cotterell, J. L. (1992). The relation of attachments and supports to adolescent well-being and school adjustment. Journal of Adolescent Research, 7, 28-42. Ehlers, A., & Clark, D. M. (2000). A cognitive model of posttraumatic stress disorder. Behavior Research and Therapy, 38, 319-345. Gecas, V., & Seff, M. A. (1990). Families and adolescents: 1980’s decade review. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52, 941-958. Gorsuch, R. L., & McPherson, S. E. (1989). Intrinsic/extrinsic measurement: I/E–Revised and single-item scales. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 28(3), 348-354. Greenberg, J., Solomon, S., Veeder, M., Pyszczynski, T., Rosenblatt, A., & Kirkland, S. et al. (1990). Evidence for terror management theory II: The effects of mortality salience on reaction to those who threaten or bolster the cultural worldview. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 308-318. Janoff-Bulman, R. (1989). Assumptive worlds and the stress of traumatic events: Applications of the schema construct. Social Cognition, 7, 113-136. Janoff-Bulman, R. (1992). Shattered assumptions. New York: The Free Press. Koenig, H. G. (1995). Religion as cognitive schema. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 5, 31-37. Kostelny, K., & Garbarino, J. (1994). Coping with the consequences of living in danger: The case of Palestinian children and youth. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 17, 595-611. Lavi, T., & Solomon, Z. (2004). The psychological effects of terror on Palestinian youth. Manuscript in progress. Magwaza, A. S. (1999). Assumptive world of traumatized South African adults. The Journal of Social Psychology, 139, 622-630.


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