What makes professional officers hard in military life?

Abstract

The present study was conducted to examine psychological mindsets concerning what makes professional officers hard in military life. A semi-structured interview was arranged to 12 active and reserve officers who have serviced for more than 5 years in the army. Sixty eight Q statements were selected through case studies. Then, the 33 active officers who were selected as P sample were asked to answer the question, ‘what is the hardest aspect up to now in your military life’. The responses were classified by factor analysis employing the Q-Methodology. According to the results, the types of perception about the hardest aspect of military life are as follows; ‘Promotion oriented type’, ‘demonstration effect oriented type’, ‘organization oriented type’, ‘hierarchical obedience oriented type’, ‘environmental instability type’, ‘perception of discrimination type’, and ‘perception of insufficient reward/support type’. Based on these findings, implications of the present study on adjustment to military life and directions for future research were discussed.