Download factors with significant impact on the process of internalization of

Social-Behavioural Sciences
37
FACTORS WITH SIGNIFICANT IMPACT
ON THE PROCESS OF INTERNALIZATION
OF MILITARY VALUES
Crenguţa-Mihaela MACOVEI
“Nicolae Bălcescu” Land Forces Academy, Sibiu, Romania
[email protected]
ABSTRACT
The efficiency of organizational socialization is reflected in the
level of understanding and respect that a newcomer shows to values
and norms of the organization. The congruence between the values of
the newcomer and organizational values proved to be a strong
predictor of his/her success in the new role. In the military system, the
task of transforming students into military professionals by successful
organizational socialization rests to military academies. To identify
those aspects of military academic and social environment that
facilitates the internalization of specific values we have built a
questionnaire consisting of thirty-nine items grouped into thirteen
dimensions that may constitute predisposing factors. The factor
analysis resulted in detaining four factors with significant impact on
the process of internalization of military values.
KEYWORDS: military values, anticipatory socialization
1. Introduction
Organizational socialization is a
particular type of socialization according to
which a person learns a new role in an
organization. In this process, a number of
specific content is learnt and the
organization and the individual use tactics
to facilitate this learning (Chao, 2012).
Jablin
(2001)
classifies
the
organizational socialization process in three
distinct phases: anticipatory socialization,
organizational entry and assimilation, and
organizational disengagement/exit.
Anticipatory Socialization takes place
in the period before the individual’s
entrance in the organization. The individual
begins by assimilating some of the norms
and values of the organization, of the group
or desired profession anticipating and
practising the role it strives towards. Doing
this, he assesses its compatibility with the
group, organization or occupation.
The way Caforio G. shows, in the
military system, military academies have
the task of transforming the anticipatory
socialization into complete professional
socialization: “In examining the officer
profession, we see that anticipatory
socialization takes on particular value in the
selection process for admission to the
military academies. This selection, usually
made on large numbers of applicants, has
the specific aim of choosing the individuals
best suited to the next process –
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professional socialization – not only from
the intellectual stadpoint but especially for
adherence to certain social values, character
traits, role commitment, and an aptitude for
identifying with a highly particular
proffesional reference group. From this
point of view it differs substantially from
the selection procedures normally adopted
by the other professions. For the military,
those who enter the academy become part
of the institution itself, they immediately
become members; their expulsion is
therefore in some way a pathological event”
(Caforio, 2006, p. 256).
2. Stages of Anticipatory Socialization
According to Jablin (2001, pp. 732818), there are two kinds of anticipatory
socialization: vocational and organizational.
Vocational Anticipatory Socialization.
This type of socialization refers to the
complex process at the end of which a person
gets to decide on a profession or career path
to follow. In this process it will be influenced
by five main agents of socialization: family,
media, peers, educational system, and
previous organizational experience.
Following the influences of family
and of a group of friends, a person forms
certain attitudes, beliefs and values that will
shape the way he/she perceives and relates
to employment in general and to specific
occupations in particular.
The educational system provides
information, education and training for
certain occupations, professions and careers
in the world of work. In this way the
educational system accomplishes the
individual’s familiarity with the particularities
of the various professions and the training
programs they offer facilitate the orientation
and self-definition in relation to them.
The media offers a wide range of
information more or less realistic or
accurate about the world of work and about
various occupations possible in a given
space and time, with a scale of values that
these occupations are placed on.
Work experience within an organization
has the role to shape the perception of a
person on the functioning of that
organization and thereby develops his/her
ability to understand other organizations or
other forms of activity; also it helps to form
attitudes, beliefs, values and behaviors
oriented towards work and interpersonal
skills necessary for a good integration in
future working communities.
In order to include career changing
and volunteering in organizations in this
category, Kramer (2010) believes that the
term anticipatory socialization role should
be used and he defines it as follows: “… the
ongoing process of developing expectations
for a role an individual wants to have in
some organization. These role expectations
are developed through interactions with
family members and friends, educational
experiences, other organizational experiences
and media portrayals of occupations”
(Kramer, 2010, pp. 6-7).
Organizational Anticipatory Socialization
is the process by which a person chooses
the organization he/she wants to join. This
process is completed in a shorter time than
the previous one and implies that the person
decides what role he/she wants to play in
the organization.
The second step in the process of
organizational socialization includes the
entry of the person in the organization and
his/her assimilation by the organization.
According to the model of F. Jablin (2001),
this stage is developing in three steps.
Pre-entry. At this stage the person
begins to consider entering into an
organization; after that decision he/she
begins gathering information about what
the signification of work in it, studying
what appears in the media or interacting
with staff recruitment and selection of the
organization. The person structures his/her
first impressions and complements them
with thoughts and feelings about the
organization and the possibilities it offers.
If the person persists in his/her commitment,
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there appears an initial psychological
contract: “Individual beliefs, shaped by the
organisation, regarding terms of an exchange
agreement between individuals and their
organisation” (Rousseau, 1995, p. 9).
Entry. At this stage of the
socialization process, the person strives to
assimilate organizational culture and at the
same time to let herself/himself assimilated
by it. He/she becomes familiar with the
demands of work and of the job he/she
occupies, with others’ expectations, norms,
rules and policies of the organization. Also,
at this stage, a process called individuation,
which the person negotiates, within the
business world, some changes to it
(environment) to better match his/her
expectations, attitudes, needs and values.
This step is essential to achieving a state of
congruence between the requirements and
needs of the organization and of the new
employed person.
Metamorphosis is the third step of
this stage and involves a transformation of
the person from a newcomer into an
established member of the organization.
This transformation is a dynamic process
that takes place in a long time and involves
carrying out psychological transformation
after which the individual begins to feel
comfortable and confident in his role and
position in the organization.
If a person is promoted in the
organization in new roles and functions
he/she can experience again two of the steps
described above – entry and metamorphosis
– whose intensity will depend on the quality
and characteristics of status change and of
the activities to undertake.
The success and effectiveness of the
socialization process is reflected in the
extent to which the newcomer understands
and respects the values and organizational
rules. They will provide the employee a
framework and context for interpreting
work events in the organization whilst
promoting communication with other
employees.
39
The
congruence
between
the
newcomer’s values and organizational
values is a strong predictor of his/her
success. Organizations will seek to employ
people whose values match their own
values and will strengthen this congruence
in the process of socialization.
3. Methodology
Starting from the information above,
we intend to perform a study pursuing to
identify those aspects of academic and
social environment that facilitate the
internalization of military values by the
students of the Military Land Forces
Academy in Sibiu. For this we applied a
questionnaire consisting of 39 items, built
on 13 dimensions that may constitute
predisposing factors. The 13 dimensions are:
I. Family
1. Parental attitudes towards military
values.
2. Family pre-existing values.
3. Other relatives’ attitudes to military
values.
4. Role models having military values
present in the family.
II. Friends
1. Developing affinity with vocatinal
group members.
2. Values pre-existing in a group of
friends.
3. Friends’ attitudes towards military
values.
III. Colleagues
1. The existence of moral guidelines
among colleagues.
2. The existence of benchmark values
among colleagues.
3. The group pressure for military
values internalization.
IV. Examples from the army
1. The influence of a professional group
on the personal system of values.
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2. Recognition of the values worth
following in the case of professional group
members.
3. The superiors’ influence on the
attitude of subjects towards military values.
V. Examples outside the army
1. Search for the company of people
outside the military system who admire this
institution.
2. Encourage choosing the military
profession/career by people outside the
professional group.
3. Recognition of military values in
professionals outside the military system.
VI. Heroes
1. Attitude towards heroic military
figures.
2. Adoption of military models from
history.
3. Using heroic patterns for the
shaping of their own training.
VII. Education
1. Parental models in the spirit of
values very close to those of the army.
2. Models of school education in the
spirit of values similar to the military ones.
3. Models of teachers who instilled
some values similar to the military ones.
VIII. Related pre-existing values
1. A pre-existing stricter code of
behavior/conduct.
2. A pre-existing value system very
similar to the military one.
3. Previous experience related to
military values.
IX. Courses, books, regulations,
magazines etc.
(1) The influence of academy courses
(2) of books with military content (3) of
military regulations and (4) of publications
that promote military values.
X. Information from the virtual
environment, Internet, films, games etc.
(1) The influence of the Internet (2) of
films with military content (3) of video
games with military content (4) of the
virtual environment in general.
XI. Symbols, rituals, ceremonies
(1) Affinity and curiosity for the
military symbols, rituals and ceremonies.
XII. Rewards and punishments
(1) Compliance with the military
values for fear of negative consequences or
(2) of the positive ones on career (3)
because of faith in them or (4) because of
integration into their own system of values.
XIII. Religion
1. Compatibility of the military values
with those promoted by religion/faith of
subjects
2. Consultation of significant people
in the Church in relation to career behavior
and in the stance of a professional military.
3. Watching heroic examples of Saints
and Martyrs described by the Church.
Students were asked to indicate to
what extent the issues listed above have
contributed to the process of military values
internalization, using a Likert-type scale
with values from 1 to 5, where 1 = strongly
disagree and 5 = strongly agree. The
questionnaire was applied to 270 students
of the academy. The sample structure was
as follows: 188 boys (69.6 %) and 82 girls
(30.4 %), 90 (33.3 %) college freshmen, 90
(33.3 %) second year students and 90 (33.3 %)
third year students.
Results from the questionnaire were
analyzed and the chosen procedure was that
of Principal Component Analysis. KMO
value (.62) was considered acceptable; the
probability associated with the Bartlett test
was < 0.001. After studying the anti-image
matrix, those items of the questionnaire
with a KMO index less than .50 were
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eliminated. As a result, 32 items have
remained and were subjected to Principal
Component Analysis. KMO value increased
to .71 and the probability associated with
the Bartlett test was < 0.001. The anti-image
matrix identified those items with a KMO
index lower than .50. Therefore, only 26
items were detained for analysis. The antiimage matrix analysis indicated that all
items had a KMO value greater than .05.
Following the removal of items with
comunalities less than .50 and of those who
were loading several factors simultaneously,
15 items remained in the model, grouped
into four factors explaining 57.2 % of the
total variance. The data obtained from this
statistical procedure are displayed in the
tables below.
Table no. 1
KMO and Bartlett’s Test
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy.
Approx. Chi-Square
Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity
df
.711
6,227.321
861
Sig.
.000
Table no. 2
Factorial Structure – Rotated Factor Matrix
Items
The military career allows me to
use/improve virtues promoted by my
religion/faith.
I appreciate a lot that the military values are
already part of the value system of my
colleagues.
I believe that academy officers have values
worthy of imitation.
Books with military content inspired me and
motivated me to behave according to
military values.
I watch videos about the army on the
internet that shape my behavior in
accordance with military values.
My superiors’ behavior determines me to
believe in military values.
I like people who can devote themselves to a
noble cause.
There were teachers who inspired me some
values that are part of the military value
system.
I always tried to find the meaning behind
each military symbol, ritual and ceremonial.
1
Factors
2
3
4
.580
Communality
.510
.651
.820
.665
.723
.706
.598
.751
.712
.792
.736
.593
.588
.731
.583
.754
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.637
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Items
1
Factors
2
3
Many of my colleagues are already models
of military behavior.
I read publications that promote military
.627
values.
The virtual environment influenced me in
.808
adopting the system of military values.
I like the values hidden behind each military
.684
symbol or military ceremony.
I respect military values because I feel they
.707
are a part of me.
Eigenvalue
4.96 1.86 1.72
Percentage of total variance
29.18 10.96 10.15
4. Discussions
Factor analysis revealed the presence
of four main factors, which, according to
the students’ answers have significant
influence in the process of internalization of
military values. All these four factors
explain 57.2 % of the total variance.
The first factor is charged with four
items that relate to the fact that the military
values are an important part of their own
value system and that is why students
always felt motivated to seek those values
in publications, symbols and military
ceremonies. We call this factor “affinity to
military values”. This factor explains 29.18 %
of the total variance.
The second factor is loaded with
three items that relate to the main sources of
information on military profession and its
specific activities: books with military
content, films about the army and the virtual
environment in general (Internet, video
games etc) that have inspired and motivated
the students to behave according to military
values. We call this factor “information
source about profession”. This factor explains
10.96 % of the total variance.
The third factor is charged with
three items that relate to the existence in the
life of the students of moral guidelines
represented by military officers in general
but especially by those with whom students
interact constantly. Also included in this
4
Communality
.622
.633
.689
.631
.604
1.17
6.91
factor we may find moral reference offered
by religion/faith that can be practiced in a
military career; situations that may occur
during this allow students to use or improve
their virtues promoted by religion/faith.
This factor can be called “moral guidelines
in the army”. This factor explains 10.15 %
of the total variance.
The fourth factor contains items that
relate to the fact that students appreciate the
presence of military values in the value
system of their peers and teachers they had
over time. They also appreciate the people
who can devote themselves to a noble cause,
a fact actually indicating appreciation of
certain military values: duty, honor, sacrifice.
We call this factor “military values
appreciation”. This factor explains 6.91 %
of the total variance.
5. Conclusions
For students who responded to our
questionnaire, the factor with the greatest
impact on the process of military values
internalization is their affinity for it. They
always felt drawn to the military values they
found in the special literature textbooks, in
military symbols and ceremonies. The
attraction to these values led them to look
for information about the military profession
in books with specific content or on the
internet and to maintain interest in watching
movies and playing video games.
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Another factor impacting on the
uptake of military values is represented by
the presence in the academic environment
of some moral guidelines represented by
officers in general but especially by those
with whom students interact constantly.
The expression of military values in peer
and teacher behaviour is another factor with
significant impact.
For many military students there is a
close link between military values and the
Christian ones, a bond that would merit a
more thorough analysis supported by data
collected by a focused research. Students
include them between landmarks and moral
values offered by their faith/religion. The
Romanian army is overwhelmingly formed
of Orthodox Christians and the institution
of the military chaplain has a long history
closely connected to the history of the
Romanian army. Military priests are now
assimilated to military ranks from major to
colonel by the size of the garrison where
they operate. Their mission is both to
officiate regular religious service and to
design and implement programs of
religious-moral, ethical and social character
that stimulate the militaries’ responsibility
to reduce the incidence of violent, immoral
acts or insubordination.
We believe that our findings support
Cockerham’s idea (apud Bachman,
Sigelman and Diamond, 1987:187) that the
potential for values and pro-military beliefs
of cadets is given by the very personal set
of attitudes that they bring in the
socialization process. Therefore, even in the
anticipatory socialization stage a process of
self-selection takes place that is based on
the tendency of a certain type of people to
get into the military service while other
types have a tendency to avoid it.
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