The protective effect of religiosity under terrorism.

Abstract Religious observance has a protective effect on the mental health of individuals facing adverse events. Its role under terrorism has been less investigated. Gaza and West Bank settlers, both secular and those keeping different degrees of observance, have faced terrorism in recent years. We investigated their PERI-Demoralization mean scores following terrorist attacks controlling for confounding variables. The results showed that the higher the religiosity the lower the demoralization mean score. This protective effect lessened when there was dissonance between the degree of religiosity of the respondent and the religious observance of the settlement of residence.