Fear of war: Relations to values, gender, and mental health in Germany and Israel.

Abstract

We examine the extent to which fear of conventional and of nuclear war are related to value priorities in samples of German and Israeli university students. Value priorities are postulated to influence the appraisal of threat. As hypothesized, fear of war is greater among those who attribute greater importance to values that express concern for others-universalism and benevolence, and to values that emphasize preservation of the social order-security and conformity. In Israel, fear of nuclear war is also greater among those who attribute greater importance to values that legitimate self-enhancement-power and achievement. Fear of war is greater among women than among men, a finding attributable both to stereotypic response bias and to role socialization. Fear of war is not related to a variety of indicators of mental health.