National and Gender Differences in Adolescents' War Attitudes

Abstract

Attitudes toward warfare were compared between samples of Canadian and US adolescents. Political attitudes in general have been attributed variously to influences of sociopolitical context, nationhood, media, and gender. Adolescents' responses to open-ended questions, and statements presented with a Likert-type rating scale suggested that whereas gender and sociopolitical context, for example contemporary attitudes toward political leaders, do influence attitudes toward war, there is a powerful effect of nationhood. The interventionist approaches of the United States and the peacekeeping emphasis of Canada are reflected in the attitudes of their youth.