The ultimate sacrifice: Perceived peer honor predicts troops’ willingness to risk their lives

Abstract

Honor is a central concept in the profession of arms. The present study of 2,254 Canadian Forces (CF) members examined how they viewed the honor of their peers at ranks below, at, or above their own. Although rank is itself a form of vertical honor, participants’ mean assessments of honor were inversely related to these relative-rank distinctions. As well, averaged across vertical honor, the assessed honor of other CF members directly predicted their willingness to risk their lives in combat operations. This effect was fully mediated by participants’ affective commitment to the CF and it was partially mediated by their sense of duty. The findings show that how professionals perceive the honor of their peers does not simply follow vertical indices of honor, and that those perceptions predict attitudinal states (e.g., affective commitment) and behavioral intentions (willingness to risk one’s life to perform one’s duties).