Knowledge of War and the War on Knowledge: Military Socialization and its Effects on Awareness of War

• In Event: War and Terrorism in the Media

Abstract

Previous research has shown that individuals with more knowledge about the Afghanistan and Iraq wars were less likely to support those wars than individuals who knew less. The media has been attributed as the major force behind levels of awareness about political issues such as war. However, prior research has not always found the media influential in determining levels of knowledge about war. The current study further investigates the media, war awareness, and war support through survey data collected at a major eastern university. Results demonstrate that the effect of media on war knowledge differs by individuals association with the military. Among individuals in or previously in the military, the media had no effect on war knowledge. Contrarily, among individuals never in the military, the media was a major predictor of war knowledge. The findings support previous research that has demonstrated the existence of a military culture. For individuals associated with the military, the media does not appear to be an information center because members within their military culture (e.g. sergeant, colonel, general) are viewed as more trustworthy of bearing knowledge while those lacking such a culture depend on the media as their information dissemination source.

Author

• Daniel J. Patten, Western Michigan University