Disentangling Honor-Based Violence and Religion: The Differential Influence of Individual and Social Religious Practices and Fundamentalism on Support for Honor Killings in a Cross-National Sample of Muslims

Abstract

Religion is seen as one of the main causes of honor violence; yet, empirical studies investigating this purported relationship remain scarce. Therefore, we investigated how individual and social religious practices, religious fundamentalism, and demographic variables contribute to support for honor killings of women and men. We analyzed multinational face-to-face interview data of Muslims with a final sample size of N = 25,723. Using multilevel ordinal regression, we found that increased support for honor killings was strongly predicted by the frequency of mosque attendance, religious fundamentalism, a lower educational level, and living in a rural area. Conversely, gender and the frequency of private prayer did not significantly relate to support for honor killings. Thus, different aspects of religion have differential effects: Individual aspects of religious practice such as private prayer seem to be not significantly related to support for honor violence, whereas social aspects such as mosque attendance and religious fundamentalism strongly predict an increased support for honor killings.

Keywords

honor violence honor killings religiosity religious fundamentalism

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Allport

G. W.

(1966). The religious context of prejudice. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 5, 447-457.

Altemeyer

Hunsberger

(1992). Authoritarianism, religious fundamentalism, quest, and prejudice. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 2, 113-133.

Altemeyer

Hunsberger

(2004). A revised religious fundamentalism scale: The short and sweet of it. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 14, 47-54.

Baier

C. J.

Wright

B. R.

(2001). “If you love me, keep my commandments”: A meta-analysis of the effect of religion on crime. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 38, 3-21.

Bates

(2018). Females perpetrating honour-based abuse: Controllers, collaborators or coerced? Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research, 10, 293-303.

Beller

(2017). Religion and militarism: The effects of religiosity, religious fundamentalism, religious conspiracy belief, and demographics on support for military action. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 23, 179-182.

Beller

Kröger

(2017). Is religious fundamentalism a dimensional or a categorical phenomenon? A taxometric analysis in two samples of youth from Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 9, 158-164.

Beller

Kröger

(2018a). Differential effects from aspects of religion on female genital mutilation/cutting. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. Advance online publication. doi:10.1037/rel0000177

Beller

Kröger

(2018b). Religiosity, religious fundamentalism, and perceived threat as predictors of Muslim support for extremist violence. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 10, 345-355.

10.

Beller

Kröger

Hosser

(2019). Prädiktoren der Delinquenz bei adoleszenten Muslimen: Religiosität, religiöser Fundamentalismus und wahrgenommene religiöse Diskriminierung [Predictors of delinquency in adolescent Muslims: Religiosity, religious fundamentalism and perceived religious discrimination]. Forensische Psychiatrie, Psychologie, Kriminologie, 13, 188-198.

11.

Beller

Kröger

Kliem

(2021). Slapping them into heaven? Individual and social religiosity, religious fundamentalism, and belief in heaven and hell as predictors of support for corporal punishment. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(15-16), NP8482-NP8497. doi:10.1177/0886260519842857

12.

Beller

Wagner

(2018a). Disentangling loneliness: Differential effects of subjective loneliness, network quality, network size, and living alone on physical, mental, and cognitive health. Journal of Aging and Health, 30, 521-539.

13.

Beller

Wagner

(2018b). Loneliness, social isolation, their synergistic interaction, and mortality. Health Psychology, 37, 808-813.

14.

Bhanbhro

de Chavez

A. C.

Lusambili

(2016). Honour based violence as a global public health problem: A critical review of literature. International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare, 9, 198-215.

15.

Bremner

R. H.

Koole

S. L.

Bushman

B. J.

(2011). “Pray for those who mistreat you”: Effects of prayer on anger and aggression. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37, 830-837.

16.

Brown

R. P.

Baughman

Carvallo

(2018). Culture, masculine honor, and violence toward women. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 44, 538-549.

17.

Bruce

(2016, July 19). “Honor killings” and Islamic terrorism. The Washington Times. Retrieved from http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jul/19/honor-killings-and-islamic-terrorism/

18.

Button

K. S.

Ioannidis

J. P.

Mokrysz

Nosek

B. A.

Flint

Robinson

E. S.

Munafò

M. R.

(2013). Power failure: Why small sample size undermines the reliability of Neuroscience. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 14, 365-376.

19.

Ceylan

(2010). Die Prediger des Islam. Imame—Wer Sie Sind und Was Sie Wirklich Wollen [The Preachers of Islam: Imams—Who they are and what they really want]. Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany: Herder.

20.

Chesler

(2010). Worldwide trends in honor killings. Middle East Quarterly, 17, 3-11.

21.

Christensen

P. N.

Rothgerber

Wood

Matz

D. C.

(2004). Social norms and identity relevance: A motivational approach to normative behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 1295–1309.

22.

Cooney

(2014). Death by family: Honor violence as punishment. Punishment & Society, 16, 406-427.

23.

Cornwall

Albrecht

S. L.

Cunningham

P. H.

Pitcher

B. L.

(1986). The dimensions of religiosity: A conceptual model with an empirical test. Review of Religious Research, 27, 226-244.

24.

Dodoo

F. N. A.

Zulu

E. M.

Ezeh

A. C.

(2007). Urban–rural differences in the socioeconomic deprivation—Sexual behavior link in Kenya. Social Science & Medicine, 64, 1019-1031.

25.

Doğan

(2016). The dynamics of honor killings and the perpetrators’ experiences. Homicide Studies, 20, 53-79.

26.

Edwards

(2002). The politics of immorality in ancient Rome. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

27.

Eisner

Ghuneim

(2013). Honor killing attitudes amongst adolescents in Amman, Jordan. Aggressive Behavior, 39, 405-417.

28.

Elakkary

Franke

Shokri

Hartwig

Tsokos

Püschel

(2014). Honor crimes: Review and proposed definition. Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology, 10, 76-82.

29.

Feldner

(2000). “Honor” murders—Why the perps get off easy. Middle East Quarterly, 7, 41-50.

30.

Floos

Pease

(2009). Factors influencing attitudes to violence against women. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 10, 125-142.

31.

Friedman

Rholes

W. S.

(2008). Religious fundamentalism and terror management. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 18, 36-52.

32.

Ginges

Hansen

Norenzayan

(2009). Religion and support for suicide attacks. Psychological Science, 20, 224-230.

33.

Glick

Sakallı-Uğurlu

Akbaş

Orta

İ. M.

Ceylan

(2016). Why do women endorse honor beliefs? Ambivalent sexism and religiosity as predictors. Sex Roles, 75, 543-554.

34.

Gorsuch

R. L.

McPherson

S. E.

(1989). Intrinsic/extrinsic measurement: I/E-revised and single-item scales. Journal for the Scientificstudy of Religion, 28, 348-354.

35.

Greenberg

Pyszczynski

Solomon

(1986). The causes and consequences of a need for self-esteem: A terror management theory. In Baumeister

R. F.

(Ed.), Public self and private self (pp. 189-212). New York, NY: Springer.

36.

Henrich

Heine

S. J.

Norenzayan

(2010). The weirdest people in the world? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 33(2-3), 61-83.

37.

Hollingshead

A. B.

(1975). Four factor index of social status. New Haven, CT: Author.

38.

Hood

R. W.

Hill

P. C.

Williamson

W. P.

(2005). The psychology of religious fundamentalism. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

39.

Iftikhar

(2016, July 29). Honor killings are a global problem. Time. Retrieved from http://time.com/4415554/honor-killing-qandeel-baloch/

40.

Inglehart

Norris

(2003). Rising tide: Gender equality and cultural change around the world. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

41.

Jehl

(1999, June 20). For shame: A special report. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/20/world/for-shame-a-special-report-arab-honor-s-price-a-woman-s-blood.html

42.

Johnson

B. R.

De Li

Larson

D. B.

McCullough

(2000). A systematic review of the religiosity and delinquency literature: A research note. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 16, 32-52.

43.

Koopmans

(2015). Religious fundamentalism and hostility against out-groups: A comparison of Muslims and Christians in western Europe. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 41, 33-57.

44.

Korteweg

Yurdakul

(2009). Islam, gender, and immigrant integration: Boundary drawing in discourses on honour killing in the Netherlands and Germany. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 32, 218-238.

45.

Kulczycki

Windle

(2011). Honor killings in the Middle East and North Africa: A systematic review of the literature. Violence Against Women, 17, 1442-1464.

46.

McCleary

D. F.

Quillivan

C. C.

Foster

L. N.

Williams

R. L.

(2011). Meta-analysis of correlational relationships between perspectives of truth in religion and major psychological constructs. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 3, 163-180.

47.

Mosquera

P. M. R.

Manstead

A. S.

Fischer

A. H.

(2002). Honor in the Mediterranean and northern Europe. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 33(1), 16-36.

48.

Oberwittler

Kasselt

(2011). Ehrenmorde in Deutschland 1996–2005: Eine Untersuchung auf der Basis von Prozessakten [Honor Killings in Germany 1996–2005: An Investigation on the Basis of Case Files]. Köln, Germany: Wolters Kluwer Deutschland.

49.

Pew Research Center. (2012). The world’s Muslims: Unity and diversity. Retrieved from www.pewforum.org/2012/08/09/the-worlds-musl

50.

Poloma

M. M.

Pendleton

B. F.

(1991). The effects of prayer and prayer experiences on measures of general well-being. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 19, 71-83.

51.

Preston

J. L.

Ritter

R. S.

(2013). Different effects of religion and God on prosociality with the ingroup and outgroup. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39, 1471-1483.

52.

Rentfrow

P. J.

(2010). Statewide differences in personality: Toward a psychological geography of the United States. American Psychologist, 65, 548-558.

53.

Roald

A. S.

(2009). Islamists in Jordan: Promoters of or obstacles to female empowerment and gender equality? Religion & Human Rights, 4, 41-63.

54.

Robinson

O. C.

(2013). Values and adult age: Findings from two cohorts of the European social survey. European Journal of Ageing, 10, 11-23.

55.

Schuler

S. R.

Hashemi

S. M.

Riley

A. P.

Akhter

(1996). Credit programs, patriarchy and men’s violence against women in rural Bangladesh. Social Science & Medicine, 43, 1729-1742.

56.

Sheikh

Ginges

Coman

Atran

(2012). Religion, group threat and sacred values. Judgment and Decision Making, 7, 110-118.

57.

Spencer

(2013). Islam unveiled: Disturbing questions about the world’s fastest-growing faith. New York, NY: Encounter Books.

58.

Steinke

(2013). Male asylum applicants who fear becoming the victims of honor killings: The case for gender equality. City University of NY Law Review, 17, 233-262.

59.

Stekhoven

D. J.

Bühlmann

(2011). MissForest—Non-parametric missing value imputation for mixed-type data. Bioinformatics, 28, 112-118.

60.

Swank

Frost

D. M.

Fahs

(2012). Rural location and exposure to minority stress among sexual minorities in the United States. Psychology & Sexuality, 3, 226-243.

61.

United Nations Population Fund. (2000). The state of the world population. Retrieved from http://www.unfpa.org/publications/state-world-population-2000

62.

Vail

K. E.

Rothschild

Z. K.

Weise

D. R.

Solomon

Pyszczynski

Greenberg

(2010). A terror management analysis of the psychological functions of religion. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 14, 84-94.

63.

Vandello

J. A.

Cohen

(2003). Male honor and female fidelity: Implicit cultural scripts that perpetuate domestic violence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 997-1010.

64.

Vasiliauskas

S. L.

McMinn

M. R.

(2013). The effects of a prayer intervention on the process of forgiveness. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 5, 23-32.

65.

Welchman

Hossain

(Eds.). (2005). Honour: Crimes, paradigms, and violence against women. London, England: Zed Books.

66.

Wikan

(2008). In honor of Fadime: Murder and shame. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

67.

Williamson

W. P.

Hood

R. W.

(2014). Religious fundamentalism and perceived threat: A report from an experimental study. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 17, 520-528.

68.

Wilson

G. D.

(1973). The Psychology of Conservatism. Oxford, UK: Academic Press.

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.38 MB