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Personality and the perception of situation structure in a military environment: seeking sensation versus structure as a soldier
Author(s) -
Parmak Merle,
Mylle Jacques J. C.,
Euwema Martin C.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/jasp.12067
Subject(s) - psychology , perception , personality , situational ethics , big five personality traits , sensation seeking , social psychology , task (project management) , sample (material) , applied psychology , military personnel , management , chemistry , chromatography , neuroscience , economics , political science , law
In this article, we explore the role of two narrow personality traits, S ensation S eeking and N eed for S tructure, in soldiers’ situational perception in a military task‐environment. In the first study, we assess the psychometric qualities of the personality inventories, S ensation S eeking S cale‐ V and Personal Need for Structure, in an E stonian military sample. In the second study, we explore how these traits are related to soldiers’ perception of complexity (predictability) and potential harms involved (riskiness; defined as situation structure) in two field exercise tasks. We found that both of the explored personality traits are significantly and inversely related with soldiers’ perception of situation structure in a military environment. Implications for personnel selection, training, and performance of military organizations are discussed.