Mistrusted to Serve? Discrimination in the Military and Its Impact on Public Support

Bibliographic Data

ID19230902
AuthorsJean-Christophe Boucher (0000-0001-5529-6572, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, corresponding author), Charlotte Duval-Lantoine (0009-0002-8391-1469, Canadian Global Affairs Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada), Lynne Gouliquer (0000-0001-7535-6800, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada), Stephen M Saideman (0000-0002-3845-3967, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)
Year2026
Publication date2026-04-27
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueArmed Forces & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0095-327X • E-ISSN: 1556-0848
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0095327x261437281
OpenAlexW7156155074
LanguageEN
References cited86

Does discrimination in the military erode institutional trust and reduce public support for defense spending and recruitment? We test this through a survey experiment ( n = 2,442) examining Canadian public reactions to scenarios highlighting the Canadian Armed Forces’ inclusion challenges for First Nations, Métis and Inuit, Francophones, people of colour, LGBTQ2S+, and women. Findings reveal that discrimination scandals significantly erode public trust, reduce support for defense spending, and undermine willingness to recommend military recruitment. Using causal mediation analysis, we demonstrate that discrimination primarily operates through its effect on institutional trust rather than through direct pathways. Crucially, trust functions as a more complete mediator in recruitment decisions than in defense spending, indicating that personnel recruitment depends almost entirely on institutional confidence, while spending support reflects a more complex calculus. Maintaining public trust—particularly trust that the military reflects societal values of inclusion—is essential for sustaining public support necessary for military recruitment and resource mobilization

Government (linguistics) · Inclusion (mineral) · Mediation · Public opinion · Public support · Public trust · Test (biology) · Gender, Security, and Conflict · Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research · Social and Intergroup Psychology

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