Risk Preference among US Army Officers
Abstract
Because of the dangers of combat that Army officers potentially face, it was hypothesized that they should become sensitized to risk taking, and that this could be observed by their being less risk averse than civilians. This study sampled two groups of male Army officers: lieutenants and officers attending the Command and General Staff College. An adapted version of the Choice Dilemmas Questionnaire (Kogan and Wallach, 1964) was used to measure risk. Mean risk scores of the two study groups were compared with those of a civilian sample reported in the literature. The principal finding was that the lieutenants were less risk averse than the civilians, but the older officers were more risk averse. Several findings were significant for combined military samples. Risk aversion varied directly with age. Sources of commission interacted with age and marital status. Officers who had received secondary zone promotions were more favorably disposed toward risk than those who had not. Married 22- and 23-year-old officers were more risk prone than unmarried officers of that age range.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 11, 1976
- Accession Number
- ADA030452
Entities
People
- John E. Yox
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College