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• Position: YOUR LIFE - Research on the link between low educational attainment and income, and the incidence of suicide bombings in predominantly Muslim countries

Conventional wisdom holds that supporters of suicide bombers are people with low educational attainment and income, so investments in education and economic development should reduce support for such attacks, but a study by two faculty members at Indiana University, Bloomington, raises questions about that approach.

In an analysis of public opinion data from six predominantly Muslim countries that have experienced suicide bombings, M. Najeeb Shafiq, assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, and Abdulkader H. Sinno, assistant professor in the Department of Political Science, show that the relationship of education and income levels to support for suicide bombings is complicated at best. Support for bombings and the influence of education and income vary greatly from one country to another, and attitudes differ significantly by whether the attacks target civilians in one's own country or foreign militaries.

They say the study points to the need for carefully developed policies to address terrorism and suicide attacks. "Each country is different, and the attitudes are different depending on the targets," Shafiq explains. "By just asking about suicide bombing, you're not likely to get a very useful sense of what people think."

The study examines attitudes in Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, and Turkey, which have been hit by suicide bombings in recent...