Nk. Grote et al., POLITICAL-ATTITUDES AND THE VIETNAM-WAR - A STUDY OF COLLEGE-EDUCATEDMEN OF THE VIETNAM GENERATION, Journal of applied social psychology, 27(19), 1997, pp. 1673-1693
Groups of Vietnam veterans (n = 52), Vietnam era veterans (n = 77), an
d nonveterans (n = 249), all of whom had graduated from an Ivy League
university in 1966, were compared in terms of their retrospectively re
ported general political orientation in 1966 and their current orienta
tion and specific political attitudes in 1990-1991. The Vietnam vetera
ns rated themselves as being more conservative than the nonveterans on
political orientation and on specific political issues in 1990-1991.
The Vietnam-era veterans tended to take an intermediate position polit
ically between the other two groups. Controlling for retrospective pol
itical orientation in 1966, intensity of military experience predicted
more ideological conservatism and more support for the war against Ir
aq, as well as a more conservative position on a number of specific po
litical issues of current interest. Results are consistent with the id
ea that critical experiences in young adulthood, namely military servi
ce in Vietnam, may affect political attitudes over many years.