Individual Differences in Decision Making: Establishing Cognitive Style Normative Values for a Military Sample.
Abstract
Cognitive styles are differences that document individuals' preferred information gathering and decision making styles. In the present research, a large-scale survey study was conducted to establish normative values of cognitive style variables for a military sample. Establishing the comparable nature of these samples is necessary for extrapolating to a military population the existing body of research using university samples. The military sample included 355 Canadian Forces personnel (276 males and 48 females --31 individuals did not list their gender). All branches of the CF (121 air, 191 land, 18 sea, 25 respondents did not report their uniform) were represented. The sample also included 61 commissioned officers, 18 officer cadets, and 276 individuals from the noncommissioned ranks. Military participants completed a variety of cognitive style measures during several mass testing sessions. These values were then compared to existing norms established for university samples in prior research. Results of the descriptive and reliability analyses indicated that the cognitive styles of the military samples generally correspond with those obtained from university samples. ANOVAS and multiple comparison tests indicated that, overall, the officer sample was more similar to the university sample than was the sample drawn from the noncommisioned ranks. Potential reasons for differences found are noted. Future experimental applications of this area of inquiry are discussed.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADA356531
Entities
People
- Megan M. Thompson
Organizations
- Defence Research and Development Canada