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Motivation is a key factor for the military institution to accomplish its goals. Extant academic research, however, has generally focused on the combat motivation and the motivation to serve has been understudied. This study examines the motivation to serve and its predictors among Turkish military officers and NCOs. The aim of the current study is 2-fold: (1) to test the effectiveness of measures proposed by previous studies in Turkish Armed Forces and (2) to build on the existing body of knowledge by showing the impacts of perceived fairness and satisfaction with social benefits. Survey data, which were conducted only 2 months before the coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016, were used to assess the motivation. Findings revealed that institutional and moral commitments, organizational responsiveness, perceived fairness, and satisfaction with social benefits were positive significant determinants of motivation to serve, while occupational commitment had a negative relationship with it.

Exposure to suicidal behavior (ESB) through social networks is often associated with an increased risk of suicidality, but empirical research-largely limited to the Western populations-has produced mixed results. Using survey data, we examined (a) the association between ESB and suicide attempt, and (b) the exacerbating role of ESB on gender differences in suicide attempt risk among Turkish adolescents (N = 2035). ESB was significantly associated with increased risk of suicide attempt, and it contributed to the higher attempt risk among girls. Suicidal behaviors spread through social networks via ESB, and suicide contagion exacerbates the existing gender differences.

Using data drawn from the 2008 Youth in Europe Survey, the current study examined alcohol consumption among Turkish adolescents through the lens of Agnew's general strain theory (GST). Although considerable attention has been paid to alcohol consumption among adolescents, extant research has remained limited to Western countries. Similarly, much of the support for GST was derived from research conducted in the United States. The current study explores factors associated with alcohol consumption in Turkey and tests the generalizability of GST. Results from ordinal logistic regression analyses indicated that, except for family strain, specific kinds of strain were significantly associated with drinking behavior without any mediating effect that could emanate from students’ negative affective states.