Selecting the Most Relevant Character Strengths for Norwegian Army Officers: An Educational Tool

Abstract

Problem statement: Officers educated at the Norwegian Military Academy (NMA) will most likely serve in leading roles in international military operations, which will demand both intellect and character. There is, however,a lack of systematic research on which character traits that are crucial forsucceeding in these operations, and hence, to develop during military training and education at the NMA. Purpose of study: This paper discusses the process of selecting the most important character strengths for development in cadets attending the NMA. Method Two groups of participants, one expert group and one military group, were given a list of 24 character strengths to select from (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). Findings and Results The following 9 character strengths were most important to both groups: leadership, integrity, persistence, bravery, citizenship, open-mindedness, social intelligence, self-regulation and creativity. In addition, perspective, fairness, and love of learning were chosen by the military group, totaling 12 character strengths in all. Conclusions and recommendations: These 12 character strengths were selected for further researchto explore ways of measuring them live in military training exercises, to determine the extent to which they can be developed through military training, and to see which strengths better predict military officer performance.