Psychological Strength in Military Set up: Current Status and Future Direction

Abstract

The paper is an attempt to critically examine the application of some the constructs in vogue of positive psychology with special reference to psychological strength. Dwelling on the application of positive psychology in American army it tries to highlight the application of some of the key psychological strength constructs which are being used to train the soldiers of American army. With reference to India the paper advocates for looking into the indigenous constructs of psychological strength rooted in religio-philosophical traditions of India and its implication in contemporary context. It identifies some of the indigenous constructs of psychological strength which have been empirically investigated in the recent past. Finally, the paper briefly discusses the outcomes studies undertaken to profile psychological strength at different levels of leadership in Indian army. Instead of following American model of psychology, the paper strongly advocates for bringing out a culturally sensitive model of psychological strength applicable to Indian socio-cultural set up. Replication of the method used in the present study is suggested to study psychological strength of other sectors of the country