'Rage' map probes tendency to violence


A group of researchers prepared a "rage" map of Turkey amid a debate over the causes of violence and murders targeting women.

Researchers from Üsküdar University in Istanbul interviewed 25,000 people from 81 provinces of Turkey, including men and women, married and single individuals between the ages of 18 and 81, for a survey on hostilities. The survey shows an inclination toward hostile behavior and aggression higher in the eastern regions while it is lower in northern and northwestern regions.

Lead researcher Gökben Hızlı Sayar said at a press conference on Wednesday that younger people "have more difficulties in restraining their emotions and harbor more aggressive thoughts and violence." "Hostility rate decreases among older people. There is also no difference between men and women in hostility proportion," Sayar said.

She also noted that low education levels were not as effective as age in the decreasing hostility levels but pointed out that those who consumed alcoholic drinks or quit it one year before the research [conducted between 2018 and 2019] had higher levels of hostility.

She said tendency to violence might be roughly equal between men and women but men's tendency had "more destructive results." "This tendency may remain hidden among women more. Women may exhibit violence toward their children or pets and even themselves by committing suicide. However, men exhibit violence more openly," she concluded.