Psychological, Social and Attitudinal Variables Associated with Infantry Combat Effectiveness and their Relation to Women

Abstract

Currently, consideration is being given to opening up combat occupations to women. This thesis reviewed relevant literature in the fields of psychology and sociology, and found that several individual and group variables (body dimensions, personality, activity level, and social cohesion) were related to adequate combat performance. The results of the literature search suggest that women may not be as well suited to combat as are men. In addition, 55 graduate students were asked to rate 51 jobs as to suitability for women. The results of the questionnaire were analyzed using multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis. The analysis resulted in the identification of two criteria that appear to have been used by the subjects to rate the jobs: traditional masculine/feminine occupations, and the degree to which a job was or was not physically demanding.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 1979
Accession Number
ADA074315

Entities

People

  • Phillip K. Carreon

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircrafts
  • Armored Personnel Carriers
  • Behavior And Behavior Mechanisms
  • California
  • Civil War
  • Families (Human)
  • Health Services
  • Identification
  • Medical Personnel
  • Operations Research
  • Personnel Management
  • Psychological Tests
  • Psychology
  • Students
  • Task Performance And Analysis
  • United States
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Psychology

Readers

  • Gender and Food Studies
  • Psychological Intervention/Treatment for Stress, Anxiety, PTSD, and Related Emotional and Cognitive Health Symptoms.
  • Psychometric Testing or Psychological Assessment.