A Study of Change from Draft to All Volunteer Military

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A Study of Change from Draft to All Volunteer Military Clemson University TigerPrints All Theses Theses 8-2015 A STUDY OF CHANGE FROM DRAFT OT ALL VOLUNTEER MILITARY: ANALYZING PATRIOTISM, SENSATION SEEKING, VALUE OF MONEY, USE OF FORCE AND INTENTION TO JOIN THE MILITARY SELCUK SAMI Clemson University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses Part of the Psychology Commons Recommended Citation SAMI, SELCUK, "A STUDY OF CHANGE FROM DRAFT TO ALL VOLUNTEER MILITARY: ANALYZING PATRIOTISM, SENSATION SEEKING, VALUE OF MONEY, USE OF FORCE AND INTENTION TO JOIN THE MILITARY" (2015). All Theses. 2220. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/2220 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses at TigerPrints. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Theses by an authorized administrator of TigerPrints. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A STUDY OF CHANGE FROM DRAFT TO ALL VOLUNTEER MILITARY: ANALYZING PATRIOTISM, SENSATION SEEKING, VALUE OF MONEY, USE OF FORCE AND INTENTION TO JOIN THE MILITARY A Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of Clemson University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science Applied Psychology by Selcuk Sami August 2015 Accepted by: Dr. James A. McCubbin, Committee Chair Dr. Thomas W. Britt Dr. Patrick J. Rosopa ABSTRACT The current study has explored some incentives for young people to enlist in the military in the context of a national transformation into all-volunteer force from draft system. Specifically, in this study, I examined how strongly patriotism, sensation seeking, value of money for people, use of force in military interventions and intentions to join the military affect young people’s behavior to enlist in the military. The Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991) was used as a part of the model in this study. This study also looked for differences on intentions to enlist in the military among young people who already served or have not yet served. Understanding what most attracts young people will also help governments direct their recruitment campaigns toward young people in case of a transition from draft to all-volunteer military. ii DEDICATION I dedicate this study to my wife, Songul and my daughter, Bahar who was born during my education in the United States. Without my wife’s continuous support and unconditional love, it would be too difficult to overcome the hard work at the school. Our daughter, Bahar, has brought spring to our life and her smiling face gave me encouragement and motivation to handle the workload at my studies. I am grateful to have such a loving family. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I want to thank my advisor Dr. James A. McCubbin, for honoring me by accepting as his student and opening the way for my education in the United States. I am truly grateful for his support and dedication he has constantly provided for me during this study and throughout my experience at Clemson University. I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. Thomas W. Britt and Dr. Patrick J. Rosopa, for their technical guidance, encouragement and support during my course of study at Clemson. Dr. Britt’s military knowledge and Dr. Rosopa’s statistical expertise made this study easier for me to overcome. I would also like to sincerely thank Psychology Department’s faculty members and staff for their help. As an international student at Clemson, I never felt alone and my teachers always helped me to feel more comfortable and understand more in my classes. Finally, I want to thank graduate students of Psychology Department. They never left me alone and accepted me as their friend. I am truly grateful of their friendship and hospitality. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TITLE PAGE ....................................................................................................................... i ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. iv LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ vii LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 1 Purpose of This Study ........................................................................................ 1 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................... 2 Patriotism ........................................................................................................... 4 Sensation Seeking .............................................................................................. 7 Value of Money .................................................................................................. 9 Use of Force ..................................................................................................... 10 Attitudes, Intentions and Behaviors ................................................................. 12 3. METHOD ......................................................................................................... 18 Participants ....................................................................................................... 18 Measures ........................................................................................................... 18 Procedure .......................................................................................................... 21 v Table of Contents (Continued) Page 4. RESULTS......................................................................................................... 24 Correlational and Regressional Analysis ......................................................... 24 Interaction Analyses ......................................................................................... 27 5. DISCUSSION .................................................................................................. 30 The Target Population ...................................................................................... 31 Patriotism, Value of Money and Sensation Seeking ........................................ 33 Predictors of Intention to Enlist ....................................................................... 35 Practical Recommendations ............................................................................. 37 Limitations and Opportunities for Future Research ......................................... 38 APPENDIX ........................................................................................................................ 40 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................... 46 TABLES ............................................................................................................................. 49 FIGURES ........................................................................................................................... 54 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1: Means and Standard Deviations for Demographics ...................................................... 49 2: Means and Standard Deviations for Constructs ............................................................ 50 3: Correlations between Demographics and Constructs .................................................... 51 4: Correlations among Constructs ..................................................................................... 52 5: Multiple Regression Analyses: Effects of Patriotism, Sensation Seeking and Compensation on Intensions to Join the Military ........................................................ 53 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1: Graph of the Full Model ................................................................................................ 54 2: Interaction of Patriotism and Intentions to Join the Military ........................................ 55 3: Interaction of Sensation Seeking and Intentions to Join the Military ........................... 56 4: Interaction of Value of Money and Intentions to Join the Military ............................... 57 viii CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION After the United States government decided to transition into all volunteer military from draft system in the 1970s, researchers conducted many studies about all- volunteer militaries. Especially, researchers have focused on the existing all-volunteer system. However, in this proposed study, I surveyed people who served in the draft system in Turkey. I examined their points of views, what they think about a professional army, and what can influence their intentions to join all-volunteer military (AVM). Purpose of This Study In this study, I investigated incentives to join the military in the context of a proposed transition from draft to AVM. Specifically, I looked for effects of patriotism, sensation seeking, value of money to young people, use of force in military interventions and young people’s intentions in order to understand behaviors to motivate enlistment in all-volunteer militaries. First of all, I defined the constructs and discuss how these constructs are
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