Moral approval of aggression and sex role identity in officer trainees, conscientious objectors to military service, and in a female reference group
✍ Scribed by Kirsti M. J. Lagerspetz; Kaj Björkqvist; Helena Björkqvist; Helena Lundman
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1988
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 639 KB
- Volume
- 14
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0096-140X
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
The Moral Approval of Aggression Inventory (MAAI) and Bern's Sex Role Inventory (BSRK) were administered to three experimental groups: officer trainees (= OTs, n = 48), conscientious objectors to military service (= COs, n = 39, and to a group of women of comparable age (n = 32). Aggression was mostly approved of among OTs and the least among COs, the women scoring in the middle somewhat closer to OTs. Differences in choice of sex role identity emerged, so that O T s often chose a masculine sex role, while for COs, the choice of an androgynous role was the most frequent one. Women chose feminine and androgynous roles with equal frequency. Moral approval of aggression could not be explained on the basis of sex role identification. The strongest determinator of moral approval of aggression was the choice of refusal to engage in military service.