Dimensionality of Military Professional Values Items: An Exploratory Factor Analysis of Data from the Spring 1996 Sample Survey of Military Personnel

Abstract

The Sample Survey of Military Personnel in Spring 1996 included detailed questions specifically about soldiers' professional values, centered on personal beliefs about loyalty and integrity values. Maximum likelihood factor analysis yielded four factors, labeled military dedication, integrity, job commitment, and military bearing. Scales developed from these factors showed acceptable internal consistency reliability and correlated as expected with measures of satisfaction with Army life, retention, soldier morale, combat preparedness, and overall job satisfaction. A regression analysis indicated that the best predictors of loyalty to the Army and to the United States were job commitment and military bearing, not integrity, as had been expected.

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