Attitudes toward Women in the Military during the Persian Gulf War

Abstract

This study describes the development of a scale to measure public attitudes toward women in the military (Women in the Military Scale) and reports its use with a sample of 97 college women surveyed during the Persian Gulf war. Analysis indicates that the scale has acceptable internal consistency reliability and is relatively free of social desirability as measured by the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. A significant positive correlation between scores on the scale and on the Sex-role Ideology Scale suggests support for the validity of the new scale. With regard to the attitudes assessed, the results indicate that subjects tend to favor attitudes endorsing the equivalent capacities of men and women to function in the military. When issues of combat or women's roles as wives and mothers are considered, scores tend to reflect less support for women in the military.