Religiosity, Social Support, Self-Control and Happiness as Moderating Factors of Physical Violence among Arab Adolescents in Israel

Abstract

This study examines the correlation among a number of personal and environmental resources that can reduce violence among Arab adolescents in Israel. These are: religiosity, happiness, social support, and self-control. The participants in the study consisted of 225 Palestinian Arab teenagers living in Israel participated in this study. The participants study in grades 8 and 9, in state schools in the northern part of The Triangle. The findings indicate that all the resources that were examined contribute to reducing the level of violence; in other words, significant negative correlations were found between the level of religiosity, happiness, social support and self-control on the one hand, and the level of violence on the other hand. These findings are consistent with those of other studies conducted elsewhere in the world on different populations (Christian and Jewish, as well as Muslim). The present study and its findings are, however, the first to address the understanding of violence among the populace in question. The findings were discussed in accordance with a number of different theories.