Research Communication: War is Heck
| DOI | 10.1177/002234338201900306 |
| Published date | 01 September 1982 |
| Date | 01 September 1982 |
| Author | David L. Cole |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Research
Communication:
War
is
Heck:
Perceptions
of
a
Post-Protest
College
Generation
DAVID
L.
COLE*
Occidental
College,
Los
Angeles,
California
Introduction
and
methodology
This
paper
describes
American
college
stu-
dent
perceptions
of
American
soldiers,
engaged
in
warfare,
student
perceptions
of
the
foes
of
these
Americans,
and
contrasts
perceptions
obtained
in
1981
1
with
those
obtained
in
both
1961
and
1971.
The
original
study
involved
culling
psy-
choanalytic
literature
for
adjectives
used
to
describe
either ’ego’
processes
or ’id’
proces-
ses.
An
originally
longer
list
was
reduced
to
17
’ego’
adjectives
and
17
’id’
adjectives
by
limiting
the
final
list
to
those
adjectives
receiving
unanimous
agreement
among
eight
independent
judges,
all
of
whom
were
psychologists,
as
to
the
proper
classification
of
each
adjective.
The
1961
study
included
146
undergra-
duate
students
as
participants.
These
stu-
dents
were
attending
a
small
liberal
arts
college
in
California.
Each
student
was
given
the
same
list
of
34
adjectives,
ar-
ranged
alphabetically;
however
different
subgroups
received
different
instructions.
Some
students
were
asked
to
imagine
a
hypothetical
battle
between
U. S.
troops
and
an
unnamed
enemy,
and
then
to
identify
from
the
list
of
adjectives
those
they
would
ascribe
to
the
U.S.
troops,
those
they
would
ascribe
to
the
enemy,
and
those
they
would
ascribe
to
both
sides
of
the
conflict.
Some
adjectives,
of
course,
might
not
be
applied
to
either
side.
Other
groups
were
referred
to
particular
battles
in
American
history.
Some
were
asked
to
identify
the
adjectives
they
would
ascribe
to
one
or
both
sides
of
the
battle
between
the
United
States
and
Mexico
at
the
Alamo,
others
to
make
simi-
lar
ascriptions
to
either
one
or
both
sides
at
Pearl
Harbor,
others
to
do
the
same
for
the
Battle
of
Gettysburg,
and
others
to
the
battle
at
the
Little
Big
Horn,
’Custer’s
last
stand’.
The
general
trend
in
the
1961
study
was
for
participants
to
ascribe
’ego’
adjectives
to
’our’
side
of
the
battle,
and ’id’
adjectives
to
the
enemy,
whoever
that
might
be.
A
stronger
trend
was
to
ascribe
adjectives
to
both
sides
of
the
battle,
and
for
these
to
be
primarily
’rid’
adjectives.
By
1971
the
protest
movement
against
U.S.
involvement
in
Vietnam
was
in
full
swing,
and
students
were
in
the
forefront
of
that
protest.
Such
a
social
condition
invited
a
replication
of
the
1961
study.
The
same
procedure
was
replicated,
and
at
the
same
institution
as
that
from
which
the
1961
data
had
been
obtained.
One
hundred
and
sixty
two
students
completed
the
questionnaires,
covering
the
same
battles,
with
one
addi-
tion.
One
subgroup
was
asked
to
character-
ize
American
and
North
Vietnamese
troops
in
a
hypothetical
battle
in
Vietnam.
The
results,
contrasting
findings
in
1961
1
with
those
of
1971,
have
been
reported
previously
(Cole
1973).
The
changes
in
most
instances
were
dramatic,
with
a
shift
away
from
the
use
of ’ego’
adjectives,
parti-
cularly
as
these
might
have
been
applied
to
troops
of
the
United
States.
In
19 81
the
apparent
shift
in
social
atti-
tudes,
toward
more
traditional
and
conser-
vative
outlooks,
invited
another
replication.
Accordingly
the
study
was
repeated,
includ-
*
Requests
for
reprints
should
be
send
to
David
Cole,
Department
of
Psychology,
Occidental
College,
Los
Angeles,
California
90041
USA
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