For terrorists, the end result is important, the goal that justifies any means. It researchers found, by publishing the results of their study in Nature Human Behavior.
While for most people in the first place the intentions of the person who commits any act that the terrorists are only interested in the result.
During the study, the researchers worked with 66 terrorists convicted of attacks that caused the deaths of hundreds of people.
The terrorists have offered a variety of scenarios in which someone either by accident or intentionally to cause harm to other people. They also had to assess the situation on a scale from 1 to 7, where 1 is totally unacceptable activity, and 7 — absolutely permissible. As a control group was a group of 66 people without criminal records and 13 assassins, are not related to terrorism. The researchers also assessed the IQ of the study participants, propensity for aggression and the ability to recognize emotions.
The study revealed that the terrorists are judged by the actions of others, focusing not on intent but on outcomes. In addition, they possessed the highest level of aggression and the least ability to understand other people’s emotions.
Scientists hope that these results will be useful when conducting forensic examinations — for example, they may allow to assess the degree of risk posed by a particular person.
