of such an admittance on their career and reputation in the eyes of their fellow service members (Hoge et al., 2004). Another problem that arises in getting an accurate estimate of the emotional health problems rampant in this community is the fact that such problems often manifest long after the combat experience (Milliken, Auchterlonie, & Hoge, 2007).
emotions and moods (for example contentment, happiness), the absence of negative emotions (for example depression, anxiety), satisfaction with life, fulfillment and positive functioning (Frey &
Stutzer, 2002; Andrews & Crandall, 1976; Diener, 2000; Ryff, 1995). Subjective well-being (SWB) or Hedonic well-being is defined as “a person’s cognitive and affective evaluations of his or her life” (Diener, Lucas, & Oishi, 2002, p.63). Psychological well-being (PWB) or the Eudaimonic conception of well-being calls upon people to live in accordance with their daimon or true self (Waterman, 1993). Ryff and Singer (1998, 2000) presented a multidimensional approach to the measurement of PWB that taps six distinct aspects of human actualization: autonomy, personal growth, self-acceptance, purpose in life, environmental mastery and positive relatedness.
Based on the literature review, certain risk and protective factors is selected to explore their role on soldiers’ subjective and psychological well-being.
Risk factors
The risk factors for soldiers well-being included in the study are- (1) Social isolation
(2) Occupational stress and (3) Death anxiety
Social isolation is a subject concerned with the objective characteristics of a situation and refers to the absence of relationships with other people, that is to say, they believe that persons with a very small number of meaningful ties are socially isolated (Gierveld et al., 2006). According to Holmlund-Rytkonen & Strandvik (2005), occupational stress is the inability to cope with the pressures in a job, because of poor fit between someone’s abilities and his or her work requirements
and conditions. Carpenito-Moyet (2008), defines death anxiety as the state in which an individual experiences apprehension, worry, or fear related to death and dying. In general, the literature shows that social isolation, occupational stress and death anxiety have a negative impact on the well-being levels in different populations. For example, social isolation has been associated with increased risk of depressive symptoms, suicide attempts, and low self-esteem in young people (Hall-Lande et al., 2007). Occupational stress can manifest itself as psychological distress, depression, anxiousness, passiveness/ aggressiveness, boredom, loss of self-confidence and esteem, loss of concentration, feelings of futility, impulsiveness, disregarding of social norms and values, dissatisfaction with job and life, losing contact with reality, and emotional fatigue (Vokic
& Bogdanic, 2007). The times of heightened stress or threats to the health of self or loved ones can result in inefficient and pathological modes of coping in some cases (Kastenbaum, 2000;
Yalom, 1980; Yalom 2008). Due to this death anxiety is considered to be a basic fear underlying the development and maintenance of various psychological conditions (Vess & Arndt, 2008; Furer
& Walker, 2008; Strachan et al., 2007).
Protective factors
The protective factors for soldiers well-being included in the study are- (1) Personality Traits
(2) Resilience (3) Leadership and (4) Group cohesion.
McAdams and Pals (2006), define personality as ‘an individual’s unique variation on the general evolutionary design for human nature, expressed as a developing pattern of dispositional traits, characteristic adaptations, and integrative life stories complexly and differentially situated in culture’ (p. 212). According to Lee and Cranford (2008, p. 213) resilience is, “The capacity of individuals to cope successfully with significant change, adversity or risk”. Horn & Walker in the Canadian Military Leadership Handbook (2008) have defined effective leadership as directing, motivating and enabling others to accomplish the mission professionally and ethically, while developing or improving capabilities that contribute to mission success. According to MacCoun
& Hix (2010), cohesion is best described in terms of two components: task cohesion and social cohesion. Task cohesion concerns with the shared commitment among members to achieve a goal that requires collective efforts of group members. On the other hand, social cohesion refers to the quality of interpersonal relationships that the group members share – for instance whether members would provide material and emotional support to each other.
People with different personality traits tend to experience different degrees of subjective well- being. Individuals who are more extraverted, agreeable, conscientious, and emotionally stable tend to experience greater satisfaction with life, more frequent positive affect, and less frequent negative affect (DeNeve & Cooper, 1998; Steel, Schmidt, & Shultz, 2008). Scholtz (2003) reported that personality factors such as conscientiousness and neuroticism were significantly correlated with PWB and that both PWB and personality measures had a significant relationship with interpersonal and organizational deviance in Canadian Forces. The second potential protective factor of resilience was found to be positively correlated with dispositional resilience (measured using the three factors of commitment, control, and challenge) and PWB, except for the dimension of autonomy (Picardi et al., 2012). The results of a study by Sagone and Caroli (2013) showed
positive relationships between Psychological well-being (environmental mastery, personal growth, and self-acceptance) and resilience. Resilience has also been found to be negatively correlated with poor mental and physical health conditions, such as increased depressive symptomatology, post- traumatic stress disorder, and physical disability (Burns & Anstey, 2010; Connor, Davidson, &
Lee, 2003; Hardy et al., 2004; Mehta et al., 2008). Research on leadership has found that destructive leadership was associated with lower well-being, increased stress, and poorer performance among followers (Schyns & Schilling, 2013). The final factor of unit cohesion has been established as a protective factor in cases of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), common mental disorder and physical ill health when it comes to military personnel (Oliver et al., 1999;
Brailey et al, 2007; Manning, & Fullerton, 1988).
Research Objectives
This thesis aimed to explore following objectives-
(1) To develop and validate a scale to measure occupational stress among soldiers of Indian Army.
(2) To identify and explore the role of significant risk and protective factors in the well-being of soldiers
(3) To understand the interaction effects of both risk and protective factors in influencing the well-being of soldiers
In order to explore above mentioned objectives, two quantitative studies were conducted as part of the thesis.
The Study 1 focuses on the development and validation of an Occupational Stress Scale for Soldiers (OSSS). The Study 2 focuses on the testing of the three proposed theoretical models of soldier well-being including a risk factors model, protective factors model and a moderator factors model where protective factors are conceptualized as moderators between risk factors and well- being measures.