The human cost of war: An experimental study of Taiwanese attitudes towards war casualties

Ronan Tse-min Fu, Weiwen Yin and Enze Han
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Ronan Tse-min Fu: Institute of Political Science, 38017Academia Sinica, Taiwan
Weiwen Yin: Department of Government and Public Administration, 59193University of Macau, Macau
Enze Han: Department of Politics and Public Administration, 25809The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Conflict Management and Peace Science, 2025, vol. 42, issue 5, 559-577

Abstract: This paper investigates public attitudes toward types of war casualties. Through a survey experiment, we examine Taiwanese responses to hypothetical scenarios involving casualties among Taiwan's own military, the US military as allies, the Chinese military as enemy combatants, and mainland Chinese civilians. Our paper reveals three findings: first, there is a stronger aversion among Taiwanese citizens to their own military casualties compared with those of their allies. Second, Taiwanese attitudes toward their own military casualties are more adverse than those incurred by enemy military. Lastly, Taiwanese support for military action diminishes more significantly with Chinese civilian casualties than with Taiwanese military losses.

Keywords: Casualties; Taiwan; China; United States; war (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:compsc:v:42:y:2025:i:5:p:559-577

DOI: 10.1177/07388942241290445

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