Impact of Army Character on Soldier Attrition

Transcription

1 Impact of Army Character on Soldier Attrition Marisa Nihill, Ph.D., Loryana L. Vie, Ph.D., Raghav Ramachandran, M.S., Jacob Hawkins, B.A., and Paul B. Lester, Ph.D. Research Facilitation Laboratory 20 JUN 2018 Project Sponsor: Army Studies Project Management Office (ASPMO) Stakeholder: Center for the Army Profession and Ethic (CAPE)

2 Character in the Army Character serves as the foundation of people s deliberate decisions and conscious actions. The Army operationally defines character as dedication and adherence to the Army Ethic, including Army Values, as consistently and faithfully demonstrated in decisions and actions. (AR ; ADRP 1) Within the Army Profession: Character is essential for mutual trust and cohesive teamwork the first principle of the Army s doctrine of mission command. Failures in character are a widely documented risk to mission accomplishment. Therefore, developing character within Army leaders is considered mission essential. 2

3 Project Background Earlier work on this project developed a character measure tailored to the Army s definition of character, in order to improve utility and predictive ability to Army-specific outcomes. This project leveraged routinely collected data available in the Person-event Data Environment (PDE), a virtual space where researchers can collaborate, access data, and use statistical tools. Afforded substantial cost savings Access to several years of relevant archival data. Character was derived from the Global Assessment Tool (GAT), a psychological strengths survey that Soldiers complete annually. 24 items from the GAT abbreviated VIA-IS character measure, designed to assess Wisdom, Humanity, Justice, Courage, Temperance, Transcendence. AND 81 additional GAT 1.0 items, which enabled a more encompassing operationalization of Armybased character. 3

4 Measuring Army Character Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative techniques, we previously developed a psychometrically sound Army- Based Character (ABC) scale with 5 distinct latent factors. Respect Team Spirit Identity We examined 3 samples of 18,000 soldiers each, drawn from an initial pool of 445,132 soldiers. Character The scale was consistent across gender, cohort, and component subgroups. These findings suggest the ABC scale may have utility and measure something meaningful in U.S. Army Soldiers. Competence + Commitment Initiative 4

5 Army-Based Character Scale The factors demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity Correlations among Character Factors: FACTOR Competence & Commitment Respect Identity Team Spirit Initiative Competence & Commitment Respect Identity.249 Note. Computed from a random sample of N = 18,000; all correlations are statistically significant (p <.001); correlations >.40 are bolded 5

6 Army-Based Character Scale Latent Construct Initiative Competence & Commitment Team Spirit Item I have no control over the things that happen to me. (reverse scored) When I fail at something, I give up all hope. (reverse scored) I respond to stress by making things worse than they are. (reverse scored) How often do you feel ashamed? (reverse scored) How often have you shown/used critical thinking, open-mindedness, or good judgment? How often have you shown/used perspective or wisdom? How often have you shown bravery or courage? How often have you shown persistence? How often have you shown love or closeness with others (friends, family members)? How often do you feel close to people? How often do you feel love? 6

7 Army-Based Character Scale Latent Construct Respect Identity Item How often have you shown/used fairness? How often have you shown forgiveness or mercy? How often have you shown modesty or humility? How often have you shown gratitude and thankfulness? My work is one of the most important things in my life. I am committed to my job. How I do in my job influences how I feel. The job I am doing in the military has enduring meaning. 7

8 Army Attrition Attrition in a military context reduces force readiness, especially if it is greater than expected or when high performing Soldiers attrit at higher rates. When trained Soldiers leave the force, they take with them institutional knowledge and skills, and their separation may leave a critical vacancy if unplanned. This can have a significant impact on the Army s ability to effectively and efficiently fight the nation s wars. 8

9 Can Character Predict Army Attrition?

10 Sample 26,204 Active Duty Army Soldiers Inclusion criteria: Completed a GAT OCT SEP 2013 Joined the Army a year or less before their first GAT (i.e., new Soldiers). Basic demographic information (Military Master Personnel File) and a valid contract term provided by Military Entrance Processing Command (MEPCOM) Attrition from the Army: OCT 2009 JUN 2017 MEPCOM Regular Army Analyst File Military Personnel Transaction File 10

11 Measures and Outcomes Character Measures: ABC-1: single character score ABC-5: character facets Within each character facet or measure, items were rescaled to be on the same scale, when necessary. Attrition Outcomes: Satisfy contract (Yes/No) Renew contract (Yes/No) Voluntary separation (Yes/No) Character of service (1. Honorable; 2. General honorable conditions; 3. Less than favorable (Bad conduct, Other than honorable conditions, Dishonorable); 4. Uncharacterized) Covariates: Age, Gender, Marital status, Rank, Education, Race/Ethnicity, and AFQT percentile scores 11

12 Analysis Binary logistic and multinomial logistic regression Examined effects of covariates and the ABC-1 character measure and, separately the ABC-5 character measures, on each outcome to identify the measures with the biggest impact on Army attrition 12

13 Overview of Soldier Attrition Outcomes Completed Initial Contract N % Yes 18, No 7, Renewed Contract N % Yes 11, No 7, Separation (Unknown reason: N = 48) N % Voluntary Separation 8, Involuntary Separation 2, Character of Service (Missing: N = 14) N % Honorable 6, General honorable conditions 3, Less than favorable (Bad conduct, Other than honorable conditions or Dishonorable) Uncharacterized

14 Results Characteristics of Our Samples Variable Mean ± SD 14 ABC-1 (0-5) ± Competence and Commitment (0-5) ± Team Spirit (0-5) ± Identity (1-5) ± Initiative (1-5) ± Respect (0-5) ± Age (years) ± AFQT percentile (10 th to 99 th ) ± Variable % Gender (Male) Rank (Enlisted) Marital Status (Married) Education (> High School) Race-ethnicity (White)

15 Impact of Overall Character on Retention As character increases, so do the odds of Soldier retention. Satisfy Contract For each 1-point increase in character, the odds of retention increased X%. Character Renew Contract Voluntary Separation Statistically Significant effect Uncharacterized Discharge 15

16 Results Impact of Character on Satisfying Initial Contract 16 Higher Identity and Initiative predicted greater odds of satisfying initial service contract. Variable Β Odds Ratio Standard Error Intercept Competence & Commitment Team Spirit Identity Initiative Respect Age Gender (Male) Marital Status (Married) Education (High School diploma or less) Race-ethnicity (White) AFQT percentile Note. N = 26,204. Significant predictor effects (p<.05) are in bold. z

17 Character Impact of Character on Satisfying Initial Contract As character increases, so do the odds of satisfying initial contract. Team Spirit Identity For each 1-point increase in character, the odds of satisfying initial contract increased X%. Initiative Satisfying Initial Contract Competence Commitment Respect Statistically Significant effect 17

18 Results Impact of Character on Renewing Contract Higher Team Spirit and Identity predicted greater odds of renewing contract. Variable Β Odds Ratio Standard Error Intercept Competence & Commitment Team Spirit Identity Initiative Respect Age Gender (Male) Marital Status (Married) Education (High School diploma or less) Race-ethnicity (White) AFQT percentile Note. N = 18,653. Significant predictor effects (p<.05) are in bold. z 18

19 Character Impact of Character on Contract Renewal As character increases, so do the odds of renewing one s contract. Team Spirit Identity For each 1-point increase in character, the odds of renewing one s contract increased X%. Initiative Renewing Contract Competence Commitment Respect Statistically Significant effect 19

20 Results Impact of Character on Voluntary Separation Higher Competence & Commitment and Initiative predicted greater odds of voluntary separation. Variable Β Odds Ratio Standard Error Intercept Competence & Commitment Team Spirit Identity Initiative Respect Age Gender (Male) Marital Status (Married) Education (High School diploma or less) Race-ethnicity (White) AFQT percentile Note. N = 10,770. Significant predictor effects (p<.05) are in bold. z 20

21 Character Impact of Character on Voluntary Separation As character increases, so do the odds of separating voluntarily. Team Spirit Identity For each 1-point increase in character, the odds of separating voluntarily increased X%. Initiative Competence Commitment 8.1% greater odds Voluntary Separation (vs Involuntary) Respect Statistically Significant effect 21

22 Results Impact of Character on Character of Service: Uncharacterized Discharge Higher Competence & Commitment, Identity, and Initiative predicted lower odds of receiving an uncharacterized discharge. Variable Β Odds Ratio Standard Error Intercept Competence & Commitment Team Spirit Identity Initiative Respect Age Gender (Male) Marital Status (Married) Education (High School diploma or less) Race-ethnicity (White) AFQT percentile Note. N = 10,809. Significant predictor effects (p<.05) are in bold. z 22

23 Impact of Character on Character of Service: Uncharacterized Discharge Character As character increases, the odds of an uncharacterized discharge decreases. Team Spirit Identity For each 1-point increase in character, the odds of an uncharacterized discharge decreased X%. Initiative 27.1% lower odds Uncharacterized Discharge Competence Commitment Respect Statistically Significant effect 23

24 Summary of Findings Overall Army character was associated with greater retention across all four outcomes. In particular: Higher Identity and Initiative Completing initial Army service contract Higher Team Spirit and Identity Renewing Army service contract Higher Competence & Commitment and Initiative Separating from the Army voluntarily (rather than involuntarily) Lower Identity, Initiative, and Competence & Commitment Uncharacterized discharge (leaving early in one s contract) 24

25 Limitations Character was assessed via self-report. Initial development of the scale was based on assessments completed during the first full year of the GAT: FY2010. Samples were comprised almost exclusively of enlisted Soldiers (99.3%). Contract length was obtained from MEPCOM data. Because very few officers are processed through MEPCOM stations, this resulted in a disproportionately low number of officers in each sample. 25

26 Immediate Impact Opportunities: The Army can use the ABC scale to examine how character helps Soldiers accomplish the mission in the right way. Recommendations: Refine the ABC scale to more fully assess identity as a Trusted Army Professional. Compare the ABC s predictive utility to that of other existing Army measures. Examine whether indicators of character development are related to manner of performance and other important Army outcomes. Measure character change as a function of leader development in education, training, and experience. 26

27 Questions & Discussion