Investigating the Stressors of Militarism in Employees

Document Type : Original Research

Authors

1 Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Life Style Institute, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Counseling, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Mohaghegh Ardabili University, Ardabil, Iran

Abstract

Background and Aim: The military structure of military occupations in comparison with civilian occupations puts employees in a variety of stressful situations related to the work, family, and organizational environment. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and stressful sources of militarism in a group of military personnel.
Methods: The present research method was descriptive with a cross-sectional design. The sample studied in this study was 300 active military personnel who were selected by the available sampling method. The instrument used in this study was the scale of Azad and Nedaei's (2020) Military Stress Factors Scale. The research questions were answered through statistical methods of frequency distribution, mean and standard deviation, and t-test.
Results: The results showed that 61.3% of employees are moderately stressed and 19% of them are exposed to severe stress. Also, the result of the t-test indicates a significant difference between the mean stress of the sample group and the mean of the population.
Conclusion: Significant military stressors are ongoing among employees that endanger their mental health. Systematic interventions should be provided to prevent the aggravation of stressors and reduce stress among employees.

Keywords


1. AzadMarzabadi E, Tarkhorani H. The relation between job stress and job satisfaction in a group of personnel. Journal of Behavioral Sciences. 2007;1 (2):121-9. [In Persian] 2. Gibbs DA, Martin SL, Johnson RE, Rentz ED, Clinton-Sherrod M, Hardison J. Child maltreatment and substance abuse among US Army soldiers. Child Maltreatment. 2008;13(3):259-68. doi:10.1177/1077559507313462 3. Alavi SS, Jannatifard F, Davoodi A. Study and comparison of mental health and burnout in employees and workers of Saipa Company. Monthly of Automotive Engineering and Related Industries, 2009;1(6):25-21. [In Persian] 4. Hutchins HM, Penney LM, Sublett LW. What imposters risk at work: Exploring imposter phenomenon, stress coping, and job outcomes. Human Resource Development Quarterly. 2018;29 (1):31-48. doi:10.1002/hrdq.21304 5. Cui Q, Chao Q, Han J, Zhang X, Ren Y, Shi J. Job stress, burnout and the relationship among the science and mathematics teachers in basic education schools. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education. 2018;14(7):3235-44. doi:10.29333/ejmste/115423 6. Nasiri BH, Peyvasteh A, Derakhshan A. Investigating and prioritizing the factors affecting job stress of military commanders and managers (a case study in a military unit in Nezaja). Military Management Quarterly, 2012;46(12):154-131. [In Persian] 7. Karasek R. The Associationalist Demand–Control (ADC) Theory: Toward a Sustainable Psychosocial Work Environment. Handbook of Socioeconomic Determinants of Occupational Health: From Macro-level to Micro-level Evidence. 2020:573-610. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-31438-5_25 8. van der Meij L, Gubbels N, Schaveling J, Almela M, van Vugt M. Hair cortisol and work stress: importance of workload and stress model (JDCS or ERI). Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2018;89:78-85. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.12.020 9. Ota A, Masue T, Yasuda N, Tsutsumi A, Mino Y, Ohara H, et al. Psychosocial job characteristics and insomnia: A prospective cohort study using the Demand-Control-Support (DCS) and Effort–Reward Imbalance (ERI) job stress models. Sleep Medicine. 2009;10(10):1112-7. doi:10.1016/j.sleep. 2009.03.005 10. Rogelberg SG, editor. Encyclopedia of industrial and organizational psychology. Sage; 2007. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-331438-5_29 11. Azad E, Nikonfas S. Organizational spirituality and its role in job stress of military personnel. Journal of Military Medicine, 2017;16(2):60-53. [In Persian] 12. Nahum-Shani I, Bamberger PA. Explaining the variable effects of social support on work-based stressor–strain relations: The role of perceived pattern of support exchange. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. 2011;11 4(1):49-63. doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2010.09.002 13. Desrosiers J. The Stressors of the Military Lifestyle and the Services Available to Help Military Families. Social Work Theses. 2014. 14. Garbarino S, Cuomo G, Chiorri C, Magnavita N. Association of work-related stress with mental health problems in a special police force unit. BMJ Open. 2013;3(7):e002791. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2013-002791 15. Farhadi M, Hemmati M and Khalkhali HR. Job stressors in critical care nurses. Nursing and Midwifery Journal. 2014;11(11):875-83. [In Persian] 16. Sarabandi A, Hazarati H, Keykha M. Occupational stress in military health settings: a questionnaire-based survey. International Journal Hospital Research. 2012;1(2):103-8. [In Persian] 17. Pflanz SE, Ogle AD. Job stress, depression, work performance, and perceptions of supervisors in military personnel. Military Medicine. 2006;171(9): 861-5. doi:10.7205/MILMED.171.9.861 18. Hoge CW, Lesikar SE, Guevara R, Lange J, Brundage JF, Engel Jr CC, et al. Mental disorders among US military personnel in the 1990s: association with high levels of health care utilization and early military attrition. American Journal of Psychiatry. 2002;159(9):1576-83. doi:10.1176/appi. ajp.159.9.1576 19. Haji Amini Z, Cheraghalipour Z, AzadMarzabadi E, Ebadi A, Norouzi A. Comparison of job stress in military and civilian drivers in Tehran. Journal of Military Medicine, 2011;13(1): 30-25. [In Persian] 20. Day AL, Livingstone HA. Chronic and acute stressors among military personnel: do coping styles buffer their negative impact on health?. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology. 2001;6(4):348. doi:10.1037/1076-8998.6.4.348 21. Rastegar AA, Siahsarani MA. The Impact of Perceived Injustice on Employee Burnout with the Mediating Effect of Organizational Commitment. Journal of Public Management Perspective, 2015; 24:149-125. [In Persian] 22. Alimoradnori M, Zargar Balaye Jame S. Investigating the Relationship between Organizational Justice and its Dimensions with Job Burnout and Its Dimensions in Selected Military Clinics in Tehran in 2017. Paramedical Sciences and Military Health. 2018;12(4):16-25. [In Persian] 23. Arizi Samani SH, Dibaji SM, Sadeghi M. Investigating the Relationship between Work-Family Conflict and Perceived Organizational Support, Job Stress, and Self-Domination in Satellite Employees. Clinical and Consultative Psychology Research. 2011;1(2):151-70. [In Persian] 24. Judge TA, Colquitt JA. Organizational justice and stress: the mediating role of work-family conflict. Journal of Applied Psychology. 2004;89 (3):395. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.89.3.395 25. Huffman AH, Payne SC, Koehly LM, Culbertson SS, Castro CA. Examining time demands and work–family conflict on psychological distress. Military Behavioral Health. 2014;2(1):26-32. doi:10.1080/21635781.2013.844662 26. Adams GA, Jex SM, Cunningham CJ. Work-Family Conflict among Military Personnel. In Military life: The psychology of serving in peace and combat: The military family. 2006:169-92. 27. Glazer S, Beehr TA. Consistency of implications of three role stressors across four countries. Journal of Organizational Behavior: The International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and Organizational Psychology and Behavior. 2005;26(5):467-87. doi:10.1002/job.326 28. Mohammadi B. Investigating the relationship between role ambiguity and job satisfaction and job performance mediated by dynamic job behaviors. Journal of Ergonomics, 2016;4(1):27-20. [In Persian] 29. Golubic R, Milosevic M, Knezevic B, Mustajbegovic J. Work‐related stress, education and work ability among hospital nurses. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 2009;65(10):2056-66. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2009.05057.x 30. Arshadi N, Shokrkon H. An investigation of the relationship between job stress caused by role conflict and role ambiguity with job performance and job satisfaction, considering the moderating effects of autonomy and group cohesiveness variables, in nisoc employees-ahvaz region. Journal of Education and Psychology. 2007;14(1-2):129-48. [In Persian] 31. Gajendran RS, Harrison DA. The good, the bad, and the unknown about telecommuting: meta-analysis of psychological mediators and individual consequences. Journal of Applied Psychology. 2007; 92(6):1524-41. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.92.6.1524 32. Hourani LL, Williams TV, Kress AM. Stress, mental health, and job performance among active duty military personnel: findings from the 2002 Department of Defense Health-Related Behaviors Survey. Military medicine. 2006;171(9):849-56. doi:10.7205/MILMED.171.9.849 33. Saei A, Akbarzadeh AR. The role of culture of commanding hierarchy in the efficiency of military organizations (a case study: imam ali(puh) military university). Military Management Quarterly. 2010; 10(39):33-75. [In Persian] 34. Parvin S, Halimi S. Internal factors affecting the rate of burnout (case study: social workers working in the Organization Tehran Welfare). Journal of Social Worker Research. 2016;2(6):101-35. [In Persian]