Ariel Merari

A careful work building upon the best available empirical evidence (e.g., since one cannot interview successful suicide terrorists, he gather data from failed suicide terrorists). The result is perhaps a big understated for my taste, but he stays close to the limitations of his data. Suicide terrorism, he concludes, is the outcome of a complex interaction of group dynamics, social environment, and individual psychology.

While suicide terrorists are not insane or mentally ill, he does conclude that they tend to have a distinctive psychological profile of dependent-avoidant individuals. That makes them "more susceptible to external influence, more willing to please, less likely to refuse requests by persons of authority, and are thus more easily influenced by public opinion and group pressure."… (mais)