Gosnell Courtney L, Kelly Dennis R, Ender Morten G, Matthews Michael D
Department of Psychology, Pace University, Pleasantville, New York.
Office of Institutional Research, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York.
Mil Psychol. 2020 Feb 13;32(2):186-197. doi: 10.1080/08995605.2019.1703434. eCollection 2020.
Although many studies have compared military vs. civilian samples on a wide variety of characteristics, few have examined these differences within the context of those who commit a portion of their life to the military. In this study, we explored how West Point cadets with ("military brat cadet") or without ("non-brat cadet") a family military background might differ in terms of their character strengths. Although the cadets shared many similarities, we found that several strengths related to self-control were higher in non-brat cadets than brat cadets and that many of these self-control-related strengths were important predictors of performance for brat cadets (but not non-brat cadets). For non-brat cadets, strengths related to a drive to fully involve themselves and navigate relationships with others were better predictors of performance. In a second study utilizing a different class of cadets, we again found support for the idea that nonmilitary brat cadets possessed more self-control than military brat cadets. Better understanding the unique strengths and weaknesses of those within the military who have vs. don't have a military background may provide important insights for future recruitment, training, and military preparation.
尽管许多研究已经在各种各样的特征方面对军人样本和平民样本进行了比较，但很少有研究在那些将部分生命奉献给军队的人群背景下考察这些差异。在本研究中，我们探讨了有家庭军事背景（“军二代学员”）和没有家庭军事背景（“非军二代学员”）的西点军校学员在性格优势方面可能存在怎样的差异。尽管这些学员有许多相似之处，但我们发现，与自我控制相关的几种优势在非军二代学员中比在军二代学员中更高，而且许多这些与自我控制相关的优势是军二代学员（而非非军二代学员）表现的重要预测因素。对于非军二代学员来说，与全身心投入并驾驭与他人关系的内驱力相关的优势是表现的更好预测因素。在第二项针对不同班级学员的研究中，我们再次发现支持以下观点的证据：非军二代学员比军二代学员拥有更多的自我控制能力。更好地了解军队中有军事背景和没有军事背景的人的独特优势和劣势，可能为未来的招募、训练和军事准备提供重要见解。
