General Article Why are our perceptions about the military so far off the mark?

Topic Selected: Armed Forces
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By Bobby Duffy, King's College London

The image we have of our armed forces shifts between the three broad stereotypes of hero, villain or victim with different mental images dominating at different times and in different contexts.

Now, Ipsos MORI and King’s College London are publishing a new survey on what the public in Britain, the US, France, Australia and Canada get right and wrong about the armed forces. The survey tested the public’s perceptions against the facts on a range of issues: from defence spending, to the profile of recruits, the outcomes for soldiers returning to civilian life and the impacts of military service on health and behaviour.

Public (mis)perceptions

In Britain, we get a lot of things wrong about the military.

Two thirds of the British public think that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is much more common among the armed forces than among the general public. Actually, studies show that levels are similar – yet only 6% guess this fact correctly. That s...

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