Attitudes Toward War Can Be Predicted by Psychologists

"Childhood maltreatment was measured using questions in the study assessing emotional and physical abuse (e.g., "people in my family said hurtful or insulting things to me" and "I was hit so badly that I had bruises or scratches"). Childhood harm was a significant predictor of pro-war attitudes, suggesting that early‐life adversity contributes to later war‐support."

"A personality factor referred to as "social dominance orientation," or SDO, also significantly predicted war support. Social dominance orientation refers to your preference for "hierarchical world views," and these are associated with militaristic attitudes. SDO is about your degree of preference for inequality in society."

A study of over one thousand UK participants examined psychological predictors of war support beyond traditional political and moral frameworks. Results confirmed that men, older individuals, and right-leaning people showed greater military support. More significantly, childhood maltreatment—including emotional and physical abuse—emerged as a strong predictor of pro-war attitudes in adulthood. Social dominance orientation (SDO), measuring preference for hierarchical worldviews and societal inequality, also significantly predicted war support. These findings suggest that early-life adversity and personality traits favoring hierarchical structures fundamentally shape adult attitudes toward military conflict, indicating psychology plays a central role in war support independent of explicit political reasoning.

Read at Psychology Today