Israeli Arabs’ acculturation patterns and attitudes toward honor killings

Many studies on honor killings have been conducted in Arab and Muslim countries, but few have addressed the issue in relation to Arab and Muslim populations living in Western countries, who are influenced by the values of two cultures: their traditional-patriarchal culture of origin and modern-liberal Western culture. The purpose of the present study was to examine the connection between acculturation patterns and attitudes of Israeli Arabs toward honor killings. A structured quantitative questionnaire was administered to a sample of 409 Arab Israeli, 179 men and 230 women, with a mean age of 34.1 (SD = 12.04). The findings show that 44% of study participants adopted a pattern of separation from Israeli society, 37.7% a pattern of integration, 9.5% a pattern of assimilation, and 8.8% a pattern of marginalization. A two-way ANOVA test found an interaction between acculturation patterns and gender in relation to attitudes toward honor killings. The attitudes of women who adopted the assimilation pattern toward honor killings were more negative, whereas men who adopted this pattern showed more positive attitudes toward honor killings. The importance of the study for research and its educational-preventive aspects are described.