Victory in modern warfare is not only about military strength but also about controlling the mental domain of soldiers and non-combatants. Human conflicts have always been fought in psychological and biological arenas, where public relations and HBR1 (Human Brain Research) play a significant role in propaganda2 and neuroscience. This research assesses the impact of propaganda on the emotional and psychological fronts in battles that target soldiers’ minds and the fears of other non-combatants.
Propaganda: The Silent Weapons of War:
Propaganda has always been a key feature of psychological warfare, silently manipulating emotions and decisions. It is used by individuals and militaries, whether for positive or negative aims, to shape the public image of those in power in order to either encourage or suppress opposition. The ability to twist the truth using facts, while creating a sense of urgency, fear, or patriotism, is what makes propaganda so powerful. The concept of propaganda itself relies on a number of fundamental psychological mechanisms:
Appeal and Emotion
Propaganda plays on a wide range of emotions such as hate, love, and patriotism. It works by tapping into feelings that are then put into action. Soldiers are encouraged to fight by stirring these emotions.
Dehumanization
This is evident as a strategy in wartime propaganda when people start to view the enemy as less than human. By doing so, soldiers and civilians are able to better rationalize killing or aggression. This alters their sense of morality, making the commission of such horrific acts much more tolerable.
Repetition and Cognitive Conditioning
For any propaganda to be effective, it must implant certain perceptions through repeated exposure to its messages. With the constant narration of various stories, both soldiers and civilians begin to normalize these circumstances to avoid cognitive dissonance. Propaganda is not a new phenomenon; it has been used for centuries in warfare. The Nazi regime famously used anti-Semitic propaganda during World War II, and even today, hate campaigns thrive through online propaganda. Social media has pushed the issue of propaganda further, making misinformation widespread on these platforms. This should be seen as a form of warfare aimed at influencing people’s psychology.
Neuroscience and Combat: Fear, Stress, and Survival
Once a soldier enters a conflict zone, their brain becomes highly active, shifting into a mode that protects the body and focuses on survival. Combat is perhaps one of the most extreme and challenging environments for the human brain, and the stress associated with it causes significant changes to the nervous system.
Hyper-arousal
The most dominant emotional response shown by the respondents was panic or anxiety. Most respondents expressed experiencing some tension due to contextual events around their locations, leading them to adopt stress-coping strategies. These costs should be reflected in understanding the reintegration of police officers after active service. Over the years, the group endured the agony of intervention, but few other units, ineffective as a whole, included the psychological unit, particularly those suffering from chronic pain. Developing social support is crucial to reducing stress associated with active-duty execution. Most people, over the course of their lives, acquire the majority of their knowledge about the world and society, which enables them to improvise.
The Relationship Between Propaganda and Combat Neuroscience
The fusion of propaganda and combat stress, especially for soldiers and civilians, impacts how they process information under pressure. This is why, when soldiers are overwhelmed by fear-based propaganda, it can worsen their brain’s performance in combat. One of the most effective tools of propaganda is distorting the perception of the enemy. In this way, the brain’s survival instinct frees the soldier from moral restraints, making it easier to commit acts of brutality. As seen, for example, in World War II, soldiers were bombarded with messages about the inherent evil of the enemy, which rationalized any violence used against them. This psychological conditioning built a sense of direction that drove soldiers forward despite the strain on their brains. There was a biological response to fear, along with an emotional fear triggered by propaganda, both working toward the same goal: influencing behavior.
Civilians in the Crossfire
Propaganda’s Impact on Non-Combatants: Wars also have civilian victims, and propaganda significantly impacts them as well. When exposed to government propaganda about enemies, civilians become more immersed in their fears. Studies3 3 show that refugees and displaced people, even if they have not directly experienced combat, exhibit similar tendencies to soldiers in terms of hyper-arousal, anxiety, and chronic stress. Propaganda constantly portrays the enemy as a threat, heightening the brain’s instinctual fear responses and often leading to learned helplessness—the belief that one is powerless to change their circumstances. As a result, civilians may experience ongoing psychological tension, even after the conflict has ended.
Breaking the Cycle
Resistance and Psychological Healing: Healing from the psychological effects of war, whether from combat stress or propaganda, requires a deep understanding of the brain’s mechanisms for dealing with anxiety and trauma. Contemporary therapies aim to rewire the brain to reduce the intensity of fear responses and restore control over emotional and mental processes. By helping people confront their traumas, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) ultimately reduce the brain’s instinctual fear responses. Veterans can engage in controlled battle scenarios through virtual reality therapy, which helps them process memories and reduces the neurological triggers associated with PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder.) To break the propaganda cycle, people must be educated in media literacy and critical thinking so they can more easily identify manipulation tactics. It takes psychological resilience from both soldiers and civilians to withstand the long-term effects of war propaganda.
In Summary: The Mind Before War:
The complexity of modern warfare emerges from the intersection of neuroscience and propaganda. The stories that shape our perception of battle are intricately woven with the brain’s response to stress, fear, and manipulation. Understanding how emotions are shaped by propaganda and how neuroscience affects behavior on the psychological battlefield may offer insights into the short- and long-term impacts of conflict on the mind.
- From Molecules to Minds. Challenges for the 21st Century. Institute of Medicine (US) Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders. ↩︎
- C. W. Anderson. https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/article/author/c-w-anderson/ ↩︎
- Wright AM, Aldhalimi A, Lumley MA, et al. Determinants of resource needs and utilization among refugees over time. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2016;51(4):539–549. doi: 10.1007/s00127-015-1121-3 ↩︎