Department of Defense November 2003 Youth Poll 6 Overview Report
Abstract
The Department of Defense conducts Youth Polls on a regular basis to measure youth's perceptions of the military and propensity to enlist in the military. This report details the findings of the Youth Poll 6 (November 2003). The primary focus of this poll was to measure the likelihood of youth ages 16 to 21 to join the military (propensity) and to identify the factors that influence their decision. In addition, this poll measured youth's favorability and knowledge of the military, their attitudes toward the military, their perceptions of how likely joining the military would result in achieving various goals, and their perceptions of how supportive various people would be of them joining the military and how much they would be influenced by these people. Overall, 23% of males said it was likely they would serve, while 10% of females were propensed. Both numbers represent a 1-percentage point increase since the last measure taken in April 2003. Youth's propensity to serve on active duty in each of the individual branches remained stable since April 2003 for both males and females, with the Army having the highest percentage of propensed males and Air Force having the highest percentage of propensed females. As were the findings in previous Youth Polls, youth reported a positive view of the military, although they admittedly reported that they are not very knowledgeable about it. The Air Force received the highest mean favorability rating followed by the Marine Corps. Youth are not confident in the military's ability to provide an environment where they can achieve a sense of well-being. Negative outcomes typically thought to be associated with the military do not appear to be major barriers for military recruitment at this time. Increasing youth's perceptions of support from a number of influencers will result in stronger intentions to join the military. Subgroup analyses reveal differences between races in terms of attitudes and propensity. (38 tables, 78 figure7
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA426587
Entities
People
- Andrea Zucker
- Brian Ebarvia
- David Snyder
- Matt Boehmer
- Ray Seghers
Organizations
- Defense Human Resources Activity