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Emotions and perceived risks after the 2006 Israel–Lebanon war

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Abstract

The current study aims to examine how the intense emotions experienced by different Israeli groups during the 2006 Second Lebanon War affected their perceptions of risk. Two weeks after the end of the war, a questionnaire was distributed among 205 people. Some were from the north and had been directly affected by the rocket attacks; others were from the center of Israel. The questionnaires, based on Lerner et al. (2003), measured emotions and perceived risk. The results show significant differences between those living in the north and those in the center of Israel. As expected, people living in the north reported more emotional difficulties during the war, greater perceived risk, and more pessimism in comparison to the center group. Moreover, the results point to significant differences between Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs regarding emotions and perceived risk. In addition, the study results show a positive relation between anger and perceived risk.

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Notes

  1. The 2006 Lebanon War is known in Israel as the Second Lebanon War.

  2. The response rate among the workers in the petrochemical plant was about 60%. In addition, most of the students in classes answered the questionnaire (very few of them refused to answer).

  3. The combination of items to form the scales was based on the scales in Lerner et al. (2003), with the exception of several items that were omitted from the original questionnaire because they were not relevant to the Israeli situation.

  4. Note that most of the Arabs in Israel live in the north or the south; therefore, our sample included only Arabs from the north.

  5. Except for the Arab group where no significant differences were found with respect to: (a) self risk of terror and the estimated average Israeli risk of terror, and (b) self general attack and the estimated average Israeli risk of general attack.

  6. For the other groups of Arab in the north and Jews in the center we did not find this two-way effect.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Jennifer S. Lerner, Baruch Fischhoff, Deborah A. Small, Frans van Winden and the participants in the Cognition and Emotion in Economic Decision Making Workshop held in Rovereto, Italy, January 2007, for their comments on an earlier version of this paper. We also thank the two anonymous referees for their very helpful comments and suggestions, which significantly improve the final version of the paper. We gratefully acknowledge research funding from the Max Stern academic college of Emek Yezreel.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Ben-Gurion University, 84105, Beer-Sheva, Israel

    Uri Benzion

  2. The Economics and Management Department, The Emek Yezreel College, 19300, Emek Yezreel, Israel

    Uri Benzion & Shosh Shahrabani

  3. School of Business, College of Management, 7 Yitzhak Rabin Blvd., 75190, Rishon LeZion, Israel

    Tal Shavit

Authors
  1. Uri Benzion
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  2. Shosh Shahrabani
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  3. Tal Shavit
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shosh Shahrabani.

Appendices

Appendix 1: The questionnaire

1.1 Part A: Anxiety

Likert-scale response options ranged from 0 (not experienced) to 5 (very often experienced).

  1. 1.

    I had difficulty falling or staying asleep.

  2. 2.

    I felt restless.

  3. 3.

    I would jump in surprise at the least thing.

  4. 4.

    I felt hyper vigilant or “on edge”.

  5. 5.

    I had difficulty concentrating.

1.2 Part B: Desire for vengeance

Response options included 1 (disagree) and 2 (agree).

  1. 1.

    I felt a need to punish those responsible for the recent terrorist attacks.

  2. 2.

    I wanted those responsible for the recent terrorist attacks to be hurt.

  3. 3.

    War is the only possible response to a terrorist attack on Israel.

  4. 4.

    We need to wipe out those responsible for these attacks.

1.3 Part C: Risk of future events for Israel

Likert-scale response options ranged from 0 (extremely unlikely) to 7 (extremely likely).

  1. 1.

    I feel that Israeli intelligence efforts will be able to predict future attacks.

  2. 2.

    I feel that Israel will be successful in the war against terrorism.

  3. 3.

    I feel that another major war with the Hezbollah is likely to occur within the next 12 months.

  4. 4.

    I feel that future terrorist attacks can happen anytime anywhere and there is no way of predicting when or where.

  5. 5.

    I feel that despite the United Nations’ call for an end to terrorism, terrorists will always stay one step ahead.

  6. 6.

    I feel that Israel will be able to capture the leaders of the terrorists in Lebanon.

  7. 7.

    I think that the defense against missiles attack will be improved considerably as a result of the terror attacks.

  8. 8.

    I feel that now the Israeli Defense Force actions against the Hezbollah militias will cause them to retaliate in ways we cannot predict.

  9. 9.

    I feel that if the terrorists retaliate against Israeli actions against terrorism in their territories, Israel will be ready.

  10. 10.

    I feel that despite the actions against the terrorists, Israel’s situation will improve.

  11. 11.

    I feel that despite the war, the Israeli economy will continue to grow.

  12. 12.

    I feel that despite the war, the Israeli stock exchange will continue to rise.

  13. 13.

    I believe that because of the war the prices of apartments and houses in the North will decrease.

  14. 14.

    I believe that because of the war in the North, the terrorists in the Gaza Strip will attack the center and the south of Israel with missiles.

1.4 Part D: Risky events and precautionary actions for self

Participants entered probabilities ranging from 0 to 100%. “0” meant it was impossible that they themselves would experience such an event within the next year and “100” meant it was certain that they themselves would experience the event within the next year.

  1. 1.

    You will be hurt in a terror attack.

  2. 2.

    You will have trouble sleeping because of the terror situation.

  3. 3.

    You will travel less than usual on public transportation.

  4. 4.

    You will screen your e-mail carefully for suspicious items.

  5. 5.

    You will get the flu.

  6. 6.

    You will be the victim of a violent crime (other than terrorism).

  7. 7.

    You will die from any cause (crime, terrorism, illness, accident, etc.).

  8. 8.

    You will travel less to destinations not recommended by the authorities, such as Sinai and Turkey.

1.5 Part E: Risky events and precautionary actions for average Israeli

Participants entered probabilities ranging from 0 to 100%. “0” meant it was impossible that the “average Israeli” would experience such an event within the next year and “100” meant it was certain that the “average Israeli” would experience the event within the next year. These items were the same as the items above except that the reference changed from “self” to “average Israeli.”

  1. 1.

    An average Israeli will be hurt in a terror attack.

  2. 2.

    An average Israeli will have trouble sleeping because of the terror situation.

  3. 3.

    An average Israeli will travel less than usual on public transportation.

  4. 4.

    An average Israeli will screen his/her e-mail carefully for suspicious items.

  5. 5.

    An average Israeli will get the flu.

  6. 6.

    An average Israeli will be the victim of a violent crime (other than terrorism).

  7. 7.

    An average Israeli will die from any cause (crime, terrorism, illness, accident, etc.).

  8. 8.

    An average Israeli will travel less to destinations not recommended by the authorities, such as Sinai and Turkey.

1.6 Part F: Policy recommendations

Likert-scale response options ranged from 1 (strongly oppose) to 4 (strongly support).

  1. 1.

    Provide Israelis with honest, accurate information about the situation, even if the information worries people.

  2. 2.

    Promote the peace process with Syria and Lebanon.

  3. 3.

    Invest in protective measures for the civilian population.

  4. 4.

    Invest in the military forces.

1.7 Part G: Scale for self-reported anger

(Likert-scale response options ranged from 0 (did not feel the emotion the slightest bit during the war) to 8 (felt the emotion more strongly than ever during the war).

  1. 1.

    Wrathful

  2. 2.

    Enraged

  3. 3.

    Mad

  4. 4.

    Furious

  5. 5.

    Angry

1.8 Part H: Scale for self-reported fear

(Likert-scale response options ranged from 0 (did not feel the emotion the slightest bit during the war) to 8 (felt the emotion more strongly than ever before during the war).

  1. 1.

    Worried

  2. 2.

    Fearful

  3. 3.

    Frightened

  4. 4.

    Terrified

  5. 5.

    Nervous

Appendix 2

Table 7 The Cronbach’s alpha values for each scale by sub-groups
Full size table

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Benzion, U., Shahrabani, S. & Shavit, T. Emotions and perceived risks after the 2006 Israel–Lebanon war. Mind Soc 8, 21–41 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11299-008-0048-8

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