Right-Wing Authoritarianism--The Mindset Behind Religious Extremists (tags)
There is a universal authoritarian trait which predisposes some people toward a greater willingness to thoughtlessly follow authoritarian leaders in attacking enemies identified by those leaders. This trait is generally associated with religiosity, and produces mirror-image behavior between the most belligerent people on both sides of any given conflict. It illuminates similarities in attitude of hardline religious fanatics, no matter what their religion.