Self-selection versus Socialization Revisited

Abstract

Scholarship on racial attitudes has found that white veterans of World War II and the Korean War had more positive views of blacks than white civilians. However, more recent studies have argued that white veterans who have served in an all-volunteer force (AVF) now express more virulent views of blacks. Using data from the 2010-2012 Cooperative Congressional Election Study, we explore whether military service continues to predict positive racial attitudes. We find that white veterans express more negative views of blacks relative to white civilians and that white veterans in the AVF generation exhibit the most negative views of blacks. Taken together, we believe that our results suggest a reassessment of the role of contemporary military experiences in liberalizing white racial attitudes and offer support for the self-selection perspective.

My Commander in Chief is Black! The Mental Health Significance of Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential Election for Military Veterans

“…For example, compared with White veterans, Black veterans received fewer PTSD screenings and encountered more bureaucratic barriers (i.e., injuries not being service-connected) when attempting to access the Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system (Burk & Espinoza, 2012; Murdoch et al, 2003). Finally, scholars consistently find White veterans, compared with White civilians, hold more negative views of Blacks (Lawrence & Kane, 1995; Nteta & Tarsi, 2016). It appears Obama’s installment as commander in chief made a psychological difference for black veterans.…”

Racism Despite Integration: Diversity for the Sake of Mission Readiness in the U.S. Military

“…The persistence of negative social attitudes among service members and veterans is often attributed to selfselection (Young and Nauta 2013;Ender, Rohall, and Matthews 2016;Nteta and Tarsi 2015;Kellermann 2014). Nteta and Tarsi (2015) argue that the military was relatively less racist when the Draft was in effect because more diverse racial attitudes were forcibly integrated. With the end of the Draft and the rise of the allvolunteer force (AVF), however, people with negative racial attitudes became proportionately dominant (Nteta and Tarsi 2015, 4).…”

“…Jennings and Markus (1977), for example, argue that military service is not associated with a change in civic tolerance, their variable for racial attitudes. Other research shows that white service members and veterans tend to hold more negative racial attitudes than civilians (Nteta and Tarsi 2015; Lawrence and Kane 1995). Not limited to racial attitudes, military service has been associated with negative attitudes toward people who identify as LGBTQ (Ender, Rohall, and Matthews 2016; Kellermann 2014; Polga-Hecimovich, Carey, and Horiuchi 2019).…”

“…The persistence of negative social attitudes among service members and veterans is often attributed to self-selection (Young and Nauta 2013; Ender, Rohall, and Matthews 2016; Nteta and Tarsi 2015; Kellermann 2014). Nteta and Tarsi (2015) argue that the military was relatively less racist when the Draft was in effect because more diverse racial attitudes were forcibly integrated. With the end of the Draft and the rise of the all-volunteer force (AVF), however, people with negative racial attitudes became proportionately dominant (Nteta and Tarsi 2015, 4).…”

Military Experience in Civilian Government Organizations: An Exploratory Study of Its Effects on a Range of Work Attitudes and Behaviors

“…Similarly, the military exposes individuals to life changing experiences (i.e., war, diversity) that can fundamentally alter their mindsets. Still, despite the findings of a few studies to the contrary (Eskreis-Winkler et al 2014;Jackson et al 2012), the prevailing evidence suggest that the primary driver of the military mind is the disposition of individuals prior to military service (Bachman et al 2000;Bachman et al 1987;Campbell and McCormack 1957;Dorman 1976;Nteta and Tarsi 2015).…”