Психологические факторы отношения к войне: теоретический обзор

Abstract

People have different attitudes toward military action as a way of resolving international conflicts. In this article we will examine the psychological approach to the study of these attitudes: (a) the levels of attitudes toward war (attitudes toward specific military campaigns vs. general attitude toward war as a way of resolving international conflicts); (b) psychological (individual, social-psychological, and situational) factors predicting these attitudes; (c) limitations of the existing research and directions for future research. We will focus on three social-psychological factors predicting attitudes toward military action on the territory of other states: social identities (common human identity vs national identity, secured national identity vs national narcissism), attitudes toward political authority (right-wing authoritarianism, political trust), and the perceived threat from adversary countries. We will show that common human identity is negatively related to the attitudes toward military companies, whereas national identity (especially national narcissism), positive attitudes toward political authorities (primarily right-wing authoritarianism), and perceived intergroup threat are positively related to them. In this review we will discuss the results obtained in various countries, primarily in the USA, several European countries, and Russia.