Worry about terror in Israel: differences between Jewish and Arab adolescents and young adults

Abstract

The current study examines group differences in (1) levels of worry about terror and (2) trait anxiety among a sample of high‐school and university students, where groups are defined by cultural affiliation, religious commitment, place of residence, gender and age. The revealed group differences in levels of worry about terror point to the ability of various factors (e.g. faith in God, group coherence) to fortify the emotional strength of people who live in a difficult and threatening reality. In addition, university students reported higher levels of trait anxiety than high‐school students, and religious participants reported lower levels of trait anxiety than their traditional and secular counterparts. Taken together, the data present a profile of the group of young adults most vulnerable to worry about terror: secular Jewish females who live in centrally located urban centres.

Keywords:

• worry about terror
• trait anxiety
• cultural affiliation
• religious commitment