Jarle Eid

Big five personality factors, hardiness, and social judgment as predictors of leader performance.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the influence of psychological hardiness, social judgment, and “Big Five” personality dimensions on leader performance in US military academy cadets at West Point.Design/methodology/approach – Army cadets were studied in two different organizational contexts, i.e. summer field training and during academic semesters. Leader performance was measured with leadership grades (supervisor ratings) aggregated over four years at West Point.Findings – After controlling for general intellectual abilities, hierarchical regression results showed leader performance in the summer field training environment is predicted by Big Five extroversion, and hardiness, and a trend for social judgment. During the academic period context, leader performance is predicted by mental abilities, Big Five conscientiousness, and hardiness, with a trend for social judgment.Research limitations/implications – Results confirm the importance of psychological hardiness, extroversion, and consc...

Measuring post‐traumatic stress: A psychometric evaluation of symptom‐ and coping questionnaires based on a Norwegian sample

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric characteristics of the Norweigian versions of the Impact of Event Scale, the Post Traumatic Stress Scale-10 item version and General Coping Questionnaire-30 item version. A group of 40 male and 56 female medical students was tested one week and four months after having started dissection of cadavers for the first time. The results showed that all scales had good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The student sample scored lower on the IES and PTSS-10 than comparable groups of traumatized subjects. A gender difference emerged, with female subjects scoring higher than male subjects. The factor analysis of the instruments indicated good construct validity for the symptom scales. The analysis of content validity related to DSM IV criteria indicated that the IES and PTSS-10 may have some limitations in their predictive validity of PTSD. Taken together, the three scales have shown good psychometric properties and could be used in future research and clinical work.

Psychometric properties of the revised Norwegian dispositional resilience (hardiness) scale.

In the 30 years that have elapsed since it was first introduced, the concept of hardiness has continued to attract the attention and interest of researchers from all over the world. The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and factor structure of a revised Norwegian hardiness scale (Dispositional Resilience Scale 15; DRS-15). Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analytic strategies with a large sample of working adults (N = 7,280), support was found for a hierarchical structure comprising a general hardiness dimension and three sub-dimensions (commitment, control, and challenge). Overall, the results support the reliability and validity of the revised DRS-15 and underscore the importance of examining the psychometric properties and cultural appropriateness of translated scales.

Character Strengths and Virtues of Developing Military Leaders: An International Comparison

Positive character strengths, virtues, and values are touted in military doctrine as critical for effective leadership, yet little evidence exists describing such traits in military samples. This study compared West Point cadets (N = 103), Norwegian Naval Academy cadets (N = 141), and U.S. civilians aged 18 to 21 (N = 838) with respect to 24 character strengths. Results generally showed that the absolute scores of West Point cadets were higher than either of the other 2 groups. However, when the rank orders of character strengths were compared, the 2 military samples were more highly correlated with each other than either was with the U.S. civilian sample. The greatest strengths evident among the military samples were honesty, hope, bravery, industry, and teamwork. Implications for multiforce military operations are discussed.

Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms in Nonexposed, Victims, and Spontaneous Rescuers after an Avalanche

A company from the Norwegian Army was investigated 2 weeks and 4 months after they were hit by an avalanche during a winter exercise. The subjects were divided into victims, spontaneous rescuers, and nonexposed subjects. The results showed that exposed subjects (victims and rescuers) reported higher levels of symptoms compared to nonexposed subjects. No differences were found among exposed subjects. The level of symptoms was also higher than comparable previous research both on victims and professional rescuers or nonprofessionals assigned a role as rescuers. All groups showed decrement in symptoms on the 4-month follow-up.

Academic Stress and Health: Exploring the Moderating Role of Personality Hardiness

Attending university is a pleasurable experience for many students. Yet for others it represents a highly stressful time of extensive studying and pressure to meet the requirements of academia. Academic stress is associated with a variety of negative outcomes such as physical illness and deteriorating mental health. This paper explores the capacity of personality hardiness to buffer the relationship between academic stress and health. Results showed that hardiness was negatively associated with both academic stress and number of health complaints, and showed that hardiness moderated the association between academic stress and health.

Shared Mental Models and Operational Effectiveness: Effects on Performance and Team Processes in Submarine Attack Teams

In this study submarine attack crews were studied during simulated attack operations. The aim of the study was to test whether knowledge about team members had an effect on performance and team processes. The design controlled for skills of the different operators. Briefly, this study demonstrated that knowledge about team members adds to performance, over and above the contribution from operational skills. This was evident for number of hits on target, amount of information exchange, and the type of information changed to a more controlling type of interaction when the attack teams operated. In addition, the data indicated less physiological arousal in teams with known team members. We attributed this effect to the shared mental models of team members when the attack teams operated under a condition of known team members.

Growing transformational leaders: exploring the role of personality hardiness

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the role of personality hardiness in facilitating change or growth in transformational leadership of Norwegian Navy cadets following a stressful military training exercise.Design/methodology/approach – Leadership styles were measured in cadets before and after an intensive leadership training exercise, and again six months later. Hardiness was measured near the end of the first academic year. Leader performance was measured with first year leader development grades.Findings – Repeated measures ANOVAS showed a sustained increase in transformational and transactional leadership following the exercise, and a decrease in the passive‐avoidant style (management by exception – passive and laissez‐faire).Research limitations/implications – This research was conducted with a relatively small group and findings may not generalize readily to other populations.Practical implications – These results suggest high hardy individuals have a greater readiness to make use o...

Dissociation, hardiness, and performance in military cadets participating in survival training.

ABSTRACT The present study examined the relationship between peritraumatic dissociation, hardiness, and military performance in Norwegian Navy officer cadets (N = 80) after a simulated prisoner of war (POW) exercise. The cadets reported symptoms of peritraumatic amnesia, depersonalization, and derealization in response to a mild stress experience (time point 1) and exhibited a significant increase in such symptoms when subsequently exposed to a highly stressful experience of being placed in a mock POW camp (time point 2). Symptoms of peritraumatic dissociation were significantly and negatively related to performance, and predicted between 16 and 26% of the variance between subjects. A subscale of the personality hardiness measure (i.e., the subdimension of challenge) was negatively associated with peritraumatic dissociation in response to both the mild stress situation and the more stressful POW exercise in study subjects. Hardiness was not significantly associated with military performance scores. The pr...The present study examined the relationship between peritraumatic dissociation, hardiness, and military performance in Norwegian Navy officer cadets (N = 80) after a simulated prisoner of war (POW) exercise. The cadets reported symptoms of peritraumatic amnesia, depersonalization, and derealization in response to a mild stress experience (time point 1) and exhibited a significant increase in such symptoms when subsequently exposed to a highly stressful experience of being placed in a mock POW camp (time point 2). Symptoms of peritraumatic dissociation were significantly and negatively related to performance, and predicted between 16 and 26% of the variance between subjects. A subscale of the personality hardiness measure (i.e., the subdimension of challenge) was negatively associated with peritraumatic dissociation in response to both the mild stress situation and the more stressful POW exercise in study subjects. Hardiness was not significantly associated with military performance scores. The present data indicate that individual differences in attribution style and in a propensity to dissociate significantly affect military performance during exposure to high stress situations.

Risk as feelings or risk and feelings? A cross‐lagged panel analysis

This article focuses on affective and cognitive processes underlying the perception of risk. A limitation with most process models of affect/cognition is that they include only concurrent emotions. By following a group (n = 129) of military sailors prospectively during an international operation, we explored longitudinal relations between perceived risk and related feelings. The risk‐relevant variables were embedded in a larger questionnaire aimed at studying mental readiness during international military operations at sea. Longitudinal cross‐lagged path models were estimated to explore the relationships between perceived risk, worry, and emotional distress. Results gave support to earlier studies by showing that cross‐sectional measures of risk and worry were weakly related. Across time, worry and emotional distress were reciprocally related. Perceived risk had impact on worry but not on emotional distress. Neither worry nor emotional distress influenced perceived risk. The risk‐as‐feelings hypothesis postulates a direct effect of feelings onto behavioural choice, and a reciprocal relation between cognitive evaluations and feelings. Our findings do not support a reciprocal relation between judgements of risk and feelings, but an impact from risk on to worry. Between various measures of feelings reciprocity seems to exist. Further replications, including also behavioural measures, are needed.