War and Terrorism Perceptions a Decade Later: Target Distinction or Ethnic-Cultural Bias?

AI Summary

Participants primarily distinguished war from terrorism by whether targets were military or civilian.
Ethnic cultural bias remains: Arabs and Palestinians are judged more terroristic, especially among participants with high ethnocentrism.
Overall distinctions between aggressor forms are weaker than a decade ago despite both target and identity criteria present.

AI Summary

Previous research from the perspective of social psychology has suggested that the main criterion for distinguishing acts of war from terrorist actions is the differentiation between military and civilian targets.

This study aims to examine whether people still rely primarily on the distinction between military and civilian targets, or whether biased judgments based on the ethnic-cultural identity of the aggressor continue to influence their assessments.

Results show that both criteria are present, although participants do not seem to perceive major differences between the different forms of aggression presented, in terms of war and terrorism, at least not as strongly as in research conducted a decade ago.

Basic summary

J Soc Psychol. 2026 Jun 29:1-8. doi: 10.1080/00224545.2026.2695650. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Recent events involving war and terrorism have rekindled the debate about the meaning of such concepts and how people define those actions. Previous research from the perspective of social psychology has suggested that the main criterion for distinguishing acts of war from terrorist actions is the differentiation between military and civilian targets. However, a secondary criterion related to the ethnic-cultural identity of the aggressor has also been observed. This study aims to examine whether people still rely primarily on the distinction between military and civilian targets, or whether biased judgments based on the ethnic-cultural identity of the aggressor continue to influence their assessments. Specifically, 297 Italian citizens evaluated whether some actions perpetrated by four groups (i.e. Arab, Palestinian, Israeli, and US) were closer to their idea of war or terrorism. Results show that both criteria are present, although participants do not seem to perceive major differences between the different forms of aggression presented, in terms of war and terrorism, at least not as strongly as in research conducted a decade ago. However, similar to these prior research studies, some actors, particularly Arabs and Palestinians, are considered more terroristic, and this is especially true of those with high ethnocentrism scores.

PMID:42374741 | DOI:10.1080/00224545.2026.2695650

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