Military service and self-perceived maturation among Israeli youth

Self-perceived maturation related to service in the Israeli army was analyz ed according to gender rank, service trajectory (type of unit for men and r ole for women) and the environment of socialization (urban vs. kibbutz). Re spondents attributed to their military service increasing independence, sel f-confidence, self-control, efficacy, self-awareness, social sensitivity an d ability for intimate relationships. Greater change was perceived in the i nstrumental rather than in the expressive direction of maturity. Unexpected ly, only few significant gender differences were shown. Effects that are mo re significant were found related to rank (an advantage to officers), traje ctory (an advantage to servicemen in the infantry and servicewomen who grad uated from premilitary courses), and the socialization environment (an adva ntage to kibbutz-born soldiers, mainly in the more expressive dimension of maturation). We conclude that army service contributes to the maturation of Israeli youth, and that maturation is moderately affected by the quality o f service and the predispositions that conscripts carry into the army. Resu lts indicate that the arguments for the nonmoratorial nature of military se rvice need revision.