Family context, authoritarianism and success rate in the military profession

[А. Đorđević]

271, 8 listova

Prilozi: listovi 259-269

Psychology

The subject of this dissertation relates to the study of psychosocial characteristics of military servicemen. The military profession implies significant social and personal responsibilities, requires discipline and unconditional compliance with the hierarchy of the military organization, willingness to be transferred if required, possible separation from the family, changing work environment and difficult working conditions, sometimes hazardous to health and life, and often quoted is also a limited freedom to express personal opinions and to participate in trade unions and politics. The military profession has undergone numerous transformations in the contemporary environment. Family tradition, which contributes to the development of the personality profile that predisposes a person to successful military service, has also undergone significant changes. The question is what represents the capacity of the individual to adapt to the military profession in the modern military organization, and what factors contribute to a successful military career. The success rate assessment is important for gaining insight into the proper balance of actual skills, knowledge and behavior patterns of officers possessing the desired standards in the defense system, set by the government and various requirements of international integration processes. Apart from rewarding the work, an adequate success rate assessment is important for personnel development planning, conception and evaluation of educational programs, HR policies, and is particularly important as a validation of selection procedures and in terms of enhancing complexity of the selection criteria for admission to the military (Pajević, 2006). In the military practice thus far, the officers’ success has been perceived through the officer’s rank, level of education / training, awards, duties that the officer has performed or is currently performing. Family environment, financial solvency and resolved housing issues have been used as the data complementing the picture of the officer, without a deeper analysis of the connection of these factors with motivation and success in the military profession. The PhD dissertation Family Context, Authoritarianism and Success Rate in the Military Profession deals with the success rate of the military profession performance from the perspective of the family and its role in the professional selection, advancement and success. The family context is considered to be both the family of origin and the current officer’s family, more precisely, the emotional quality of partner relations. The family of origin is considered through the perceived parental upbringing practices towards children (acceptance and rejection). The current officer’s family is considered as a modern institution that meets numerous psychological needs, such as affiliation, loyalty, protection, union, support and intimacy. The quality of emotional relations in partnerships is assessed on the basis of subjective evaluation of mutual respect, communication, understanding, acceptance and agreement in daily emotional partner relations (current families of officers). The main objective of the research is to determine the parameters associated with success in the military profession. In the core of the research is the family, i.e. the perceived parental upbringing styles and practices in the family of origin and their contribution in shaping the personality of a person whose professional choice is the military vocation, performed with more or less success. In addition, the relations between these parameters and the quality and satisfaction with partnerships have been studied, as well as the ways those partnerships contribute to the satisfaction and success in the military profession. Specifically, we were interested whether the contribution of the current partnership to the satisfaction and success in the military profession is more significant than the contribution of the family of origin. A particularly important aim of the research was to study the contribution of upbringing styles and practices in the family of origin in shaping the authoritarian personality structure, as well as the connection between authoritarianism and the parameters of success in the military profession. The study used the Questionnaire on Success in the Military Profession (designed for research purposes), Parental Acceptance/Rejection Questionnaire - PARQ (Rohner, 1984), Revised F scale of authoritarianism (Rot and Havelka, 1973) and Dyadic Adjustment Scale - DAS (Spanier, 1976) to assess the emotional quality of partnerships. The reliability of the applied tools is high (Cronbach's alpha coefficients range from 0.744 to 0.893). The sample is purposive and composed of the Serbian Armed Forces officers (443 in total), divided into three subsamples (successful, average, and unsuccessful) in accordance with the criteria set by the Ministry of Defense and the Serbian Armed Forces. The correlation analysis results have shown a statistically significant positive correlation between the perception of the parental acceptance (mother, father), on the one hand, and educational and professional success, positive perception of the job and people, good cooperation and communication with both superiors and subordinates, on the other hand. Also, a statistically significant negative correlation between the authoritarian personality structure – authoritarianism, and the criteria of objective and subjective success was found. The respondents with higher levels of authoritarianism are more commonly found in the lower ranks and have lower performance grades, while the respondents with average (lower) levels of authoritarianism have higher ranks and higher performance grades. The respondents with higher levels of authoritarianism assessed the cooperation with the subordinates in helping to resolve personal problems with higher scores. In addition, it has been determined that there are complex relations between the conformity of intimate partners and success in performing their jobs. A statistically significant correlation between the conformity of the partners and the objective elements of success was determined. Officers with higher performance grades perceive a greater cohesion in partnerships, while the lower ranked officers of more satisfied with agreement in the partnership dyad and emotional expression. Also, there was a statistically significant correlation found between the conformity of intimate partners and the subjective success rates. The respondents with higher self-assessment of their professional performance, knowledge of the rules and regulations of the military service, good relations with the subordinates are more satisfied in the partnership dyad. A statistically significant correlation between the perceived parental acceptance / rejection and authoritarianism was determined. The respondents who perceive their parents as rejecting and hostile have a more pronounced authoritarian personality structure. Also, the respondents who assessed their parents as accepting have established a better conformity with their intimate partners in all aspects. The results of multiple regression analysis show that authoritarianism is a significant predictor of the objective success rate, while the emotional quality of partner relations is a significant predictor of the subjective success in the military profession. The obtained results conform with all of the hypotheses and previous research suggesting that the professional success depends on a proper balance between the family and professional roles. In addition, the results and conclusions can be further developed on the basis of research of other relevant factors of professional success, such as: psychological personality profile, system of values, social and emotional intelligence, communication skills. Also, the results enhance the knowledge about the factors of the general professional success, including the military profession (especially in terms of the development of authoritarian personality structure from the perspective of the parental acceptance / rejection theory, as well as the importance of the emotional quality of partner relations) in order to implement them in the military education curricula (primarily in the Military psychology subject) and training plans for the Ministry of Defense and the Serbian Armed Forces personnel, innovation in the selection processes and modification of the psychological selection criteria, and career management.

vaspitni stil roditelja; roditeljsko prihvatanje/odbacivanje; autoritarnost; emotivni kvalitet partnerskih relacija; objektivna i subjektivna uspešnost u vojnoj profesiji; oficiri; korelaciona, faktorska i multipla regresiona analiza

parental upbringing style; parental acceptance / rejection; authoritarianism; emotional quality of partner relations; objective and subjective success rate in the military profession; officers; correlative, factor and multiple regression analysis

159.922.73:355.13(043.3)

159.923:355.13(043.3)

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