Most of the men in my family have been in the military. Fortunately, my parents encourage my brother and I to strive for something that will make us happy and have never pushed us to join the military for family tradition. My brother never showed an interest in joining until after his senior year of high school. We had him all packed and ready to go to Texas Tech (literally) when he announced that he was going to join to Army. He said that he needed to serve his country and was not ready to go to school because he needed more time to find himself. He chose the Army because they were the only branch that you could join for just two years (which is funny because in my family it's ok if you don't join the military, but there is an unspoken rule that you had better join the Navy if you do). Not long after his graduation from high school he left for boot camp in Kentucky.
My parents and I went up to Kentucky to see my brother graduate from boot camp, and he was able to give us a little tour of the base to show us where he slept, ate, and trained. Normally, my brother is pretty outgoing, doesn't like cleaning, and hates meaningless work. However, one of the things that I remember most from his tour was how proud he was of all the hard work he had done no matter how small. He even took us into his barracks and showed off the bathroom that he and a few other guys had cleaned. Although boot camp is known to be a difficult and intense experience, my brother took all the effort that he put in those long weeks and ended up rating the experience as very favorable.
I learned how to add photos!
Aronson, E. & Mills, J. (1959). The effect of severity of initiation on liking for a group. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 59, 177-181.
Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanfor, CA: Stanford University Press.
1 comment:
I definitely agree with your example of effort justification! My boyfriend just recently left for boot camp for the next few months, and he initially joined for the money. He was looking forward to finishing up his service and putting the money towards education and a house. The hard work part was something he rarely discussed and was not looking forward to. However, as he began boot camp, he started to change his attitude about what the army was asking of him. He claims to love PT in the mornings and says he feels very accomplished every day.
Even though the army puts pretty strong demands on people, it seems that this treatment only strengthens their loyalty! I really admire anyone in the military, it takes dedication and strength- and apparently a little cognitive dissonance!
Post a Comment