Personality and coping strategies during submarine missions

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Occupational Health
• Military Science

Background:

• Understanding the relationship between personality and coping is crucial for managing stress in high-demand professions.
• Previous research has explored personality and coping, but their interplay in isolated, stressful military environments requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between personality profiles (Personality Characteristics Inventory - PCI) and habitual coping strategies (Utrecht Coping List - UCL).
• To examine the predictive validity of PCI and UCL for stress, health complaints, and cortisol levels during submarine missions.

Main Methods:

• A sample of submarine personnel and office employees completed PCI and UCL before missions.
• Weekly questionnaires and saliva samples were collected during three submarine missions to measure stress, health, and cortisol.

Main Results:

• No significant direct relations were found between PCI profiles and coping strategies.
• Interpersonal orientation, achievement motivation, and habitual coping strategies predicted coping effectiveness during missions.
• Problem-directed coping, interpersonal sensitivity, and high achievement motivation correlated with lower stress from social factors and homesickness.

Conclusions:

• Interpersonal characteristics and motivation are key predictors of stress management in isolated, stressful military settings.
• These findings suggest that personality assessments, particularly focusing on interpersonal skills and motivation, should be considered in the selection of submariners and similar military personnel.