Predicting Attitudes toward the Masculine Structure of the Military with Turkish Identification and Ambivalent Sexism

Why do people support the masculine structure of the Turkish military? Why do women hold inferior positions in the military? How are sexism and Turkish identification relevant to attitudes toward the masculine structure of the military? Focusing on these questions, the current study explored the associations among Turkish identification, ambivalent sexism (including hostile and benevolent sexism), and attitudes toward the masculine structure of the military in Turkey after controlling for gender, political views, and military affiliation. University students (316 women; 262 men; M (age) = 22.02, SD = 2.20) completed the Attitude toward The Masculine Structure of the Military, Turkish Identification, Ambivalent Sexism scales and provided information about age, gender, political view, and military affiliation. The results showed that Turkish identification, hostile sexism, and benevolent sexism predicted attitudes toward the masculine structure of the military after controlling for gender, political view, and military affiliation. Participants who scored higher on Turkish identification and hostile and benevolent sexism supported the masculine structure of the military. The findings may be useful for researchers who aim to better understand why Turkish military personnel is primarily male, how some improvement can be provided for the process of recruitment and retention of military personnel, and how to improve the positions of women in the military or women who would like to join military.