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The Relationship Between Personality Traits and Students’ Perceptions of War Imagery
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by Evan T. Guidry and Elizabeth Yost Hammer - Loyola University New Orleans (Guidry) and Xavier University of Louisiana (Hammer)
Category: Perception
This study investigated patriotism, nationalism, smugness (an extreme form of nationalism), authoritarianism, and negativism and suspicion (subgroups of aggression), and how these traits are related to perceptions of war imagery. Participants were 78 undergraduates (23 male, 55 female) that are native born U.S. citizens. Participants completed surveys for the above personality constructs, then viewed a series of 20 images depicting war and reported their level of support for war. It was hypothesized that high nationalism, smugness, authoritarianism, and suspicion will result in more positive perceptions, while high negativism will result in more negative perceptions. Patriotism will also influence perception in some way. Significant correlations were found between support for war and patriotism, nationalism, smugness, and authoritarianism.