Evaluation of the reflections of terrorist incidents on Istanbul residents within the scope of the world assumptions and the impact of events

This study was conducted to determine the assumptions of individuals (living in Istanbul) regarding the world, the effects of traumatic experiences such as terrorist incidents and to reveal the corelations with various demographic variables. A total of 491 participants (Female: 251 and Male: 240) agreed to participate in the study. Participants were administered an Information Form, the Impact of Events Scale, and the Assumptions about the World Scale. 89 of the participants had directly witnessed a terrorist incident, 51 had indirectly witnessed a terrorist incident, and 176 had a relative who had directly witnessed a terrorist incident. All participants; either lost a person(s) they knew, listened to the details of the traumatic memories of people who were at the scene, listened to the stories of people who indirectly witnessed it, watched video footage of a terrorist attack, saw photographs of the scene of a terrorist attack, lost a loved one during a terrorist attack or attended the funeral ceremonies of the person(s) who lost their lives due to a terrorist attack. It was observed that the scores of female and male participants were significantly different in terms of the subdimensions of re-experiencing and hyperarousal, and the total scores of females were found to be significantly higher than those of males. When examined in terms of the demographic variable of marital status, there were significant differences in the subdimensions of belief in the goodness of the world, positive self-belief, and belief in the fairness of the world. When examined in terms of exposure to terrorist incidents and experiences of terrorism, it was determined that there were differences and correlations in the subdimensions of re-experiencing, hyperarousal, belief in the controllability of events, belief in the goodness of the world, and avoidance among participants.