Veteran social identity, partisanship, and political behavior

ABSTRACT What does it mean to be a veteran, and how does serving in the armed forces condition how veterans view their sense of identity? In a national survey sample with an oversample of veterans, I find that veterans have a stronger sense of identity as a veteran, measured in terms of self-identification as both a veteran and a feeling of closeness to the veteran group, compared to civilians. I also find that, among military veterans, combat experience and valuing time in the military leads to higher veteran identity. Moreover, I find that even some non-military members report a greater sense of identity with veterans than others. I compare the effect of this “veteran” identity to that of partisan identity and find that, for most veterans, there is a greater sense of attachment to the veteran identity than to their partisan identity. Finally, I find that veteran identity has an important, independent influence on veterans’ and civilians’ views on military spending. These findings suggest that there is a veteran identity that military members and civilians attach themselves to that is stronger than partisanship for some individuals and is associated with certain policy positions.