Description
Book SynopsisWhy do we--not the politicians or the generals, but ordinary people--so often and so willingly support war, in the west and elsewhere? In search of an answer to that question, this book explores topics such as the personal appeal of war and wartime, the role of nationalism and other values in defense of which wars are fought, war as a male enterprise, images of the enemy, militarism and society, the role of propaganda, and the moral dilemma posed by war. While a focus on the public''s attitude to war has been surprisingly neglected in psychology, this book combines psychology''s few direct contributions on the subject with psychological theories to answer the book''s key question. These theories include social identity, interpersonal contact, moral disengagement, system justification, relational models, and spiral conflict theories, plus concepts such as the authoritarian personality, social dominance orientation, and cognitive complexity versus simplicity. The book concludes by presen
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Posing the Question, Why is War Supported? Chapter 1 Wars, Old and New, Costs and Controversies Chapter 2 The Personal Attraction of War Chapter 3 War in Defense of National and Other Identities and Values Chapter 4 Thinking of Us and Them, Enemies and Heroes Chapter 5 Embedded Militarism and Readiness for War Chapter 6 Engineering Consent: Propaganda and Persuasion Chapter 7 Just War? War as a Moral Dilemma Chapter 8 An Answer: Toward a Unified Understanding of War Support Bibliography
