Bien que les kamikazes semblent être majoritairement, mais non exclusivement des hommes, et appartenir à un certain groupe d'âge, les points de vue quant aux causes fondamentales, à savoir par exemple si la pauvreté a ou non un impact, semblent diverger.
Beside the fact that many of the suicide bombers seem to be preponderantly but not exclusively male and in a certain age group, there seems to be a difference of view as to the root causes, including whether or not poverty, for example, has an impact.