Subculture Differences in Attitudes Toward Corporal Punishment: College Students Versus Active-duty Military

Abstract

With growing evidence of both short- and long-term detrimental effects of corporal punishment on children, efforts to end corporal punishment are working. However, evidence also suggests that the ongoing incidence of corporal punishment varies across intersectional strata. To more fully understand the variation in attitudes toward corporal punishment across subcultures, a 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 factorial vignette design was used to examine (a) whether active duty military personnel, the general population, and college students differ in their attitudes about the acceptability of corporal punishment; (b) variations in attitudes according to ethnic differences after naturally controlling for socioeconomic disparity in the all-volunteer active duty military sample; and (c) whether respondent age, sex, parental status, or education predict varying attitudes toward the use of corporal punishment. Substantially more military respondents (73.6%) than the general population (42.8%) and college student (40.1%) respondents indicated the use of corporal punishment was appropriate in the vignette scenario. Similarly, if faced with the same set of circumstances, 52.4% of military respondents indicated they would spank their own child, compared to 28.7% among the general population, and 34.2% among college students. Respondents’ rationales for their responses, implications of these findings, and future directions are discussed.