Premium
Psychological Hardiness Predicts Success in US Army Special Forces Candidates
Author(s) -
Bartone Paul T.,
Roland Robert R.,
Picano James J.,
Williams Thomas J.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
international journal of selection and assessment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.812
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1468-2389
pISSN - 0965-075X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2389.2008.00412.x
Subject(s) - hardiness (plants) , psychology , psychological resilience , special forces , military personnel , clinical psychology , social psychology , sample (material) , applied psychology , scale (ratio) , logistic regression , stress (linguistics) , reliability (semiconductor) , statistics , political science , power (physics) , chemistry , physics , chromatography , quantum mechanics , law , horticulture , cultivar , biology , linguistics , mathematics , philosophy
Military ‘Special Forces’ represent a high‐reliability occupation, where stress levels are often intense and failure can be costly. Selection for such jobs should pay careful attention to psychological factors associated with resiliency under stress. In the present study, US Army Special Forces candidates ( N =1138) were assessed for psychological hardiness using a short form of the Dispositional Resilience Scale, and these scores were then applied to predict successful completion of the course. Independent sample t ‐tests and logistic regression analyses confirmed that Special Forces course graduates are significantly higher in psychological hardiness, as compared to non‐graduates. Psychological hardiness appears to be an important individual characteristic associated with stress tolerance and successful performance in highly demanding occupations.