Military Experience and Attitudes Toward Authority

The effect of military experience on attitudes toward authority was measured by testing a group of Air Force cadets in their first week of training and again one year later and by comparing populations with varying periods of military experience. Contrary to expectation, authoritarianism and orientation toward superiors decrease with increasing military experience. The principal measures used were the F-scale measure of authoritarian personality trends and a test of leadership knowledge, scored for orientation toward superiors or subordinates.