Behaviorally anchored scales for measuring morale in military units

Abstract

Behavioral examples of how military units express varying degrees of morale were provided by US military personnel in the US and in 2 foreign locations. From these examples, behaviorally anchored rating scales were developed for 8 dimensions of group morale. They were used to rate morale of 47 platoon-sized units in the US Army stationed in a foreign location. Although errors of leniency and restriction of range did not seem severe, the ratings did show indications of halo error and only low to moderate interrater reliability. Despite these psychometric deficiencies, correlations with ratings of unit effectiveness and self-reports of unit members provided some evidence for convergent validity. Military units rated high on the morale scales were also rated high on overall effectiveness and low on frequency of low-morale activities like dissent, drug abuse, and destruction/sabotage. Members of units rated high on some of the morale scales were more likely to report high morale and intentions of reenlisting. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)