The conceptual and etymological meaning of the terms 'terror' and 'terrorism' is so
closely connected that it seems difficult to distinguish the one from the other. How-
ever, by comparing the idea that terrorism inevitably creates terror with the results of
recent empirical studies of the psychological effects of terrorist attacks, four different
points of view emerge corresponding to four distinct interpretations of the results. It is
thus clearly necessary to redefine the terminology relating to terrorism, in order to con-
duct the discussion on a more rigorous basis.