Abstract
ObjectivesTheories of religion are essential for understanding current trends in terrorist activities. The aim of this work is to clarify religion's role in facilitating terror and outline in parallel with recent theoretical developments on terrorism and human behaviour. MethodsSeveral databases were used such as PubCentral, Scopus, Medline and Science Direct. The search terms “terrorism”, “social psychology”, “religion”, “evolution”, and “cognition” were used to identify relevant studies in the databases. ResultsThis work examines, in a multidimensional way, how terrorists employ these features of religion to achieve their goals. In the same way, it describes how terrorists use rituals to conditionally associate emotions with sanctified symbols that are emotionally evocative and motivationally powerful, fostering group solidarity, trust, and cooperation. Religious beliefs, including promised rewards in the afterlife, further serve to facilitate cooperation by altering the perceived payoffs of costly actions, including suicide bombing. The adolescent pattern of brain development is unique, and young adulthood presents an ideal developmental stage to attract recruits and enlist them in high-risk behaviors. ConclusionsThis work offers insights, based on this translational analysis, concerning the links between religion, terrorism and human behavior.
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