A Psychosemantic Study of Compensation Psychological Defense Mechanism in the Novice Military Leaders

Authors

  • Tetyana Khraban Heroiv Krut Military Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technologies, Ukraine
  • Ihor Khraban Yevheniy Bereznyak Military Diplomatic Academy, Ukraine

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29038/eejpl.2020.7.2.khr

Keywords:

experimental psychosemantics, leadership, psychological defense mechanism

Abstract

The aim of the article is to study the formative impact of the defense mechanism “compensation” on the leader’s personality. The research is based on the axiological semantic research method created due to the development and application of experimental psychosemantics to the issue of leadership. An experiment was conducted with the view of confirming the fact of impact of the defense mechanism “compensation” on the leader’s personality formation. This experiment involved 30 students undergoing leadership training for tactical officers at the Heroiv Krut Military Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technologies.  A test-questionnaire was created to experimentally substantiate the reliability of the proposed conjecture. At the outset of the experiment, the participants were asked to note in the test-questionnaire the basic postulates they rely on when forming relationships in the military community. For the purpose of creating a relaxed atmosphere the postulates (60 units) were presented in the form of posts (quotes and aphorisms) which are most often posted on social media pages. Based on the methods of psychological subjective semantics and psychosemantics, we established the predominance of a certain form of defence mechanism “compensation”. Then followed the assessment of the leadership role preferences displayed by the participating pilot students, this providing the basis for drawing conclusions as regards the tendency for a particular form of leadership. Matching of the obtained results revealed correlations between mental reflections of various phenomena. Although correlational study has a lower degree of confidence in predicting cause and effect, it can provide strong indications that relationships exist. Results and discussions. The defense mechanism “direct compensation” correlates with the kind of “fighter” leader, “overcompensation” correlates with the kind “father”, “decompensation” correlates with the kind “tyrant”. To conclude, trend to use a certain type of defense mechanism affects the acceptance and assimilation of a certain role type of leader. In addition, the use of information which are most often posted by social media users on their personal accounts as a content for the test-questionnaire allows us to conclude about the possibility of using social media account to determine the psychological type of personality by analyzing posts, likes and comments.

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Author Biographies

  • Tetyana Khraban, Heroiv Krut Military Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technologies, Ukraine

    https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5169-5170

    Scopus Author ID: 57215581503

    xraban.tatyana@gmail.com

  • Ihor Khraban, Yevheniy Bereznyak Military Diplomatic Academy, Ukraine

    https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3319

    khraban728@gmail.com

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References (translated and transliterated)

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Allen, N. (2006). Leader development in dynamic and hazardous environments: Company commander learning in combat. Doctoral dissertation, The George Washington University, Washington, DC.

Avolio, B.J. (2007). Promoting more integrative strategies for leadership theory-building. American Psychologist, 62(1), 25–33. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.62.1.25

Baran, B.E. & Scott, C.W. (2010). Organizing Ambiguity: A Grounded Theory of Leadership and Sensemaking Within Dangerous Contexts. Military Psychology, 22, 42–69. https://doi.org/10.1080/08995601003644262

Bass, B., Bass, R. (2008). The Bass Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research, and Managerial Applications. 4th Ed. New York: Free Press.

Bergman, D., Sendén, M.G., Berntson, E. (2019). Preparing to lead in combat: Development of leadership self-efficacy by static-line parachuting. Military Psychology, 31, 481–489. https://doi.org/10.1080/08995605.2019.1670583

Blanshard, C. (2019). Leadership in the spotlight. BMJ Leader, 3, 65-66. https://doi.org/10.1136/leader-2019-000155

Burgo, J. (2012). Why Do I Do That? Psychological Defense Mechanisms and the Hidden Ways They Shape Our Lives. Chapel Hill, NC: New Rise Press.

Cramer, P. (2015). Understanding defense mechanisms. Psychodynamic Psychiatry, 43(4), 523-552. https://doi.org/10.1521/pdps.2015.43.4.523

Cutler, A. (2014). Leadership Psychology: How the Best Leaders Inspire Their People. Philadelphia, PA: Kogan Page.

Field Manual FM 6-22 Leader Development (2015). Amazon.de: US Army, United States Government: Fremdsprachige Bücher.

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Haynes, A. (2017). Moving to the enlightened side: a sheep in wolf’s clothing. BMJ Leader, 1, 46–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/leader-2017-000045

Laurence, J. (2011). Military leadership and the complexity of combat and culture. Military Psychology, 23(5), 489-501. https://doi.org/10.1080/08995605.2011.600143

Sweeney, P. J. (2010). Do soldiers reevaluate trust in their leaders prior to combat operations? Military Psychology, 22, 70–88. https://doi.org/10.1080/08995601003644312

Taylor, R. L., Rosenbach, W. E. (2005). Military Leadership: In Pursuit of Excellence. Cambridge, MA: Westview Press.

Vaughan, W. F. (1926). The psychology of compensation. Psychological Review, 33(6), 467–479. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0070854

Wong, L., Bliese, P., McGurk, D. (2003). Military leadership: A context specific review. The Leadership Quarterly, 14(6), 657–692. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2003.08.001

Source

FB (Facebook). Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/groups/655994877875713/

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Published

2020-12-28

Issue

Section

Vol 7 No 2 (2020)

How to Cite

Khraban, T. ., & Khraban, I. (2020). A Psychosemantic Study of Compensation Psychological Defense Mechanism in the Novice Military Leaders. East European Journal of Psycholinguistics , 7(2), 97-106. https://doi.org/10.29038/eejpl.2020.7.2.khr