Perspective Taking

Osama Bin Laden is both one of the worlds most wanted men and a hero in the Arab world. He is linked to terrorist bombings of American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000, and other attacks through out the decade. He is also wanted for the September 11, 2001 airplane hijackings that were crashed into the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. But, what led him to orchestrate these horrific attacks? Psychology's six perspectives could explain why he did these attacks.

Many psychologists believe in the perspective of behaviorism. Behaviorism is an approach to psychology based on the proposition that behavior is interesting and worthy of scientific research. This means that people grow by example and adjust to their environment. People who believe in behaviorism would say that Bin Laden acted because of the way he was bought up.

English: Osama bin Laden interviewed for Daily Pak...

English: Hamid Mir interviewing Osama bin Laden fo...

English: Frame grab from the Osama bin Laden video...

Bin Laden grew up in Saudi Arabia where religious tension was always at its peak. In the Middle East, religious groups fight for domination which leads to Holy Wars. Bin Laden grew up in a hostile environment where religious expression was enormous. This could have caused Bin Laden to development a radical mind set that led him to perform those evil attacks of humanity.

On the contrary, many psychologists believe that people act the way they do because they are affected by cognitive psychology. Cognitive psychology focuses on reasoning and the mental processing of information. Because of the high tension of the relationship with the US and the Middle Eastern world, many people in the Arab world have a negative perception, or thought process, of the US. This could have led Bin Laden to execute such a radical attack on the US. Throughout his lifetime, Bin...