SUICIDE bombers are not mentally ill and tend to be better off and better educated than their peers, a US psychological analysis of the phenomenon has revealed.

Although most people in the West believe the opposite, that was the finding of a review by Scott Atran, an anthropologist and psychologist at the University of Michigan, of dozens of studies of captured terrorists, surviving suicide bombers and their families.

Misconceptions about the psychological factors that promote the bombings, Dr Atran said, might be hindering the fight against terrorism. Initiatives to improve education and fight poverty could be counterproductive without strategies to promote the influence of moderates and to strengthen interaction between different religious and political groups.

Dr Atran, whose research is published today in the journal Science, said another misconception was that suicide bombers turned to martyrdom as they had “nothing to lose”.

He said: “They don’t act from rational self-interest, opting for paradise out of despair because they feel there is nothing much to lose in this world. Nor are they sacrificing themselves for what they see as the good of their group, even though they are fiercely loyal to their ‘families’ — cells of fellow-terrorists who take on the role of fictive kin.”

Groups that sponsor suicide terrorism used similar strategies as fast-food chains and pornographers to influence recruits — “tricking people into doing things that have no personal advantage”. The first line of defence, he said, should be to prevent people joining the ranks of would-be martyrs, rather than protecting targets from attack.

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