Support for religio‐political aggression among teenaged boys in Gaza: Part II: Neuroendocrinological findings

Abstract

Hormones seem to play important roles in the regulation of human aggression. Multiple studies have confirmed that testosterone (T) levels exhibit complex relationships with aggression, dominance, and/or risk-taking behavior. Some evidence suggests that cortisol (CORT) interacts with T and may also be associated with aspects of mood and aggression. However, almost no research to date has investigated the possibility that these neuroendocrine factors are associated with variations in political attitudes or with political aggression. During the second intifada, we tested the hypothesis that morning salivary T and/or salivary CORT levels might be associated with self-rated aggression or with support for religio-political aggression (RPA) among 14-year-old Palestinian boys living in Gaza. We obtained and averaged weekly 09:00 hr salivary measures of T and CORT for more than 1 month. Averaged morning T levels did not correlate with self-rated aggression, but were positively associated with agreement with the statement "religious ends justify any means," (r = .355, P = .014) and marginally associated with a composite measure of support for RPA (r = .247, P = .094). Average CORT levels were inversely correlated with self-rated aggression (r = -.328, P = .037) and with anger (r = -.373, P = .016), but CORT levels were not associated with support for RPA or with the statement "religious ends justify any means." Acknowledging that a modest sample size and methodological issues necessarily limit confidence in our conclusions, these results may represent the first findings regarding neurobiological correlates of support for political aggression.

Perspectivas dos estudos sobre violência na adolescência e cortisol: revisão bibliográfica sistemática

“…There are no papers originating from research conducted in South America or in Portuguese. The main ways of selecting participants were from a larger study [14][15][16][17][18] , advertising [19][20][21] and in health and education services [22][23][24][25] . Due to the very nature of the research object, it is difficult to use samples with strict designs.…”

“…Most studies included individuals of both genders (58.3%). However, three papers covered only girls 14,15,18 (25.0%) and two included only males 23,25 (16.7%). Regarding the age of participants, most of them worked exclusively with adolescents (five papers, 41.7%), two included children and adolescents 16,22 (16.7%), two adolescents and adults 14,19 (16.7%) and the rest reported only the average age of the participants 21,23,24 .…”

“…In those involving children and adults, the proportion of adolescents overlapped, as foreseen in the exclusion criteria described. In this group of five adolescent-only papers, only one 25 selected only individuals at a fixed age (14 years of age).…”

“…Regarding the socioeconomic status of the research participants, five articles 14,17,18,24,25 (41.6%) stated that all participants were from poor regions or low-income population, quoting the average income of families in the region and/or low human development index as poverty indicators. The remaining papers analyzed comprised populations of different socioeconomic conditions, or this information was not revealed in the text of the paper.…”

“…Most 14,15,[17][18][19]21,22 (58.3%) refer to family violence, where victimization or witnessing are addressed. Two studies 16,24 focus on community violence, one 25 on violence motivated by political and religious issues, another 23 on media violence, and one 20 that addresses witnessing of situations of violence in various contexts. The evidence of mental disorders (anxiety, depression, suicide attempt and post-traumatic stress disorder) is the most frequently addressed issue in the publications and is studied concomitantly with violence and cortisol.…”