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Emotional Determinants of Support for the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan: A View from the Bridge

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2012

Joseph F. Fletcher  and
Jennifer Hove
Joseph F. Fletcher*
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Jennifer Hove*
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
*
Joseph F. Fletcher, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto, Sidney Smith Hall, Room 3018, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G3. Email: josephf@chass.utoronto.ca
Jennifer Hove, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto, Sidney Smith Hall, Room 3018, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G3. Email: j.hove@utoronto.ca
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Abstract

Abstract. Canada's military engagement in Afghanistan continues to figure highly in the public consciousness, spurring debate on perceived progress and the public's willingness to bear casualties. Despite the many political considerations at play, there is an emotional core to the issue that is often overlooked. In an earlier paper we found public support for the Afghanistan mission to depend in large part on emotive responses, although our analysis was restricted by the limited number of emotional indicators in the data (Fletcher et al., 2009). In this paper, we investigate a broader range of emotional influences on attitudes toward the mission through the use of field research on the Highway of Heroes and experimental framing of casualty-based imagery with student samples. Our findings reveal that Canadians' emotional responses to the repatriation of fallen soldiers reflect a distinctive composite of sadness and pride; the consequence of which is to undercut support for Canada's traditional peacekeeping role, a position negatively related to support for the Afghan mission. When compared with studies conducted in the US (Gartner, 2008a, 2011; and Huddy et al., 2007) our findings suggest some ways in which Canadians and Americans form distinct emotional communities (Rosenwein, 2006) in reactions to war.

Résumé. L'engagement militaire du Canada en Afghanistan demeure un sujet important dans l'esprit du public en alimentant les nombreux débats entourant les progrès sur le terrain et l'acceptation des pertes militaires. Malgré les nombreux angles d'analyse utilisés pour investiguer ce sujet, il est rare que la dimension émotionnelle soit étudiée directement. Dans un article publié précédemment, nos résultats indiquèrent que l'appui populaire pour la mission canadienne en Afghanistan dépendait largement des réponses émotives associées à cette dernière (Fletcher, Bastedo et Hove, 2009). Toutefois, cette analyse se trouvait restreinte par le nombre limité d'indicateurs émotionnels disponibles. Cet article comble cette lacune en étudiant un ensemble élargi d'influences émotionnelles sur les attitudes envers la mission militaire afghane. Pour ce faire, nous avons effectué une recherche de terrain sur l'Autoroute des héros ainsi qu'une expérience en laboratoire sur un échantillon d'étudiants. Nos résultats révèlent que l'exposition à des images montrant des soldats canadiens tombés au combat provoque des réponses émotionnelles mêlant tristesse et fierté. L'effet de cette réaction serait d'affaiblir l'appui pour un rôle de maintien de la paix traditionnellement joué par le Canada et, par le fait même, de renforcer l'appui pour la mission afghane. Lorsque l'on compare nos résultats aux études effectuées à ce sujet aux États-Unis (Gartner, 2008a, 2011; and Huddy et al., 2007), nos conclusions suggèrent que les Canadiens et les Étatsuniens forment des communautés émotionnelles (Rosenwein, 2006) distinctes lorsqu'il est question de leurs réactions à la guerre.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 45 , Issue 1 , March 2012 , pp. 33 - 62
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 2012

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