"I would kill in God's name:" role of sex, weekly church attendance, report of a religious experience, and limbic lability.
Data collected during the last 15 years for the Personal Philosophy Inventory from 1.48 thousand university men (n = 629) and women (n = 853) were analyzed to discern the response characteristics of individuals who stated "yes" to Item 136 "If God told me to kill, I would do it in His name." The percentage (7%, range between 2% and 8% per year) of affirmative responses did not change significantly over time. The odds ratio for men: women for an affirmative response was 1.4:1. As predicted a four-way interaction for sex, weekly church attendance, history of a religious experience, and elevated complex partial epileptic-like signs was statistically significant. Of the men who reported a religious experience, attended church weekly, and displayed elevated complex partial epileptic like signs (5.7% of all males), 44% stated they would kill another person if God told them to do so.
Persinger
M A
MA
Department of Psychology, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.
D000328:Adult; D017029:Epilepsy, Complex Partial / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006708:Homicide / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008032:Limbic System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D012737:Sex Factors