Development of Military Psychology in China

Abstract

Although it is a young discipline, military psychology in China is rooted in a distinguished history. The present chapter will briefly review this history and provide a current description of how military psychologists are trained and employed in modern-day China. More recent developments of military psychology in China can be divided into three major stages, the recovering stage, the rapid developing stage, and the third stage which was another period of fast and profound growth. The remainder of this chapter covers the achievements of Chinese military psychology in recent years, in the following eight areas: (1) psychological selection of military personnel; (2) influence of military environment on mental health; (3) military human factors psychology; (4) psychological warfare and psychological defense; (5) individual mental health; (6) military psychological training; (7) organizational mental health and military organizational culture; and (8) non-wartime mental health services. These areas involve the administration of successful psychological tests and the influence of China’s vast and geographically variable territory on mental health. They include the military’s advanced technical means of science and technology and develop the idea of information trauma and psychological warfare; along with this, identifying characteristics such as psychoticism can play an important role in early prevention of military mental disorders. Future research will examine the influence of military environments on mental health, military human factor efficacy, military training, psychological health, and development of military standards in these areas.