An integrative approach to identifying factors related to long-term career commitments: A military example

The purpose of this paper is to examine an initial set of characteristics and traits that may reduce officer recruitment turnover by increasing a cadet’s decision to contract vs those that do not contract (contracting represents a written commitment to commission into an US Armed Services Organization after graduation). This paper is the first of a larger, long-term project. The factors of particular interest in this initial study are generalized self-efficacy, grit, and perceived organizational support (POS).

Computer-based surveys containing variables of interest were administered to a random sample of freshmen, sophomore, junior, and senior cadets over a period of three years. Data for 517 cadets responding to the survey were analyzed using logistical regression to test hypotheses examining whether or not self-efficacy, grit, and POS were positively related to cadets’ decisions to contract.

Logistical regression results indicated that self-efficacy and grit were not significantly related to contracting decisions. However, cadets’ decisions to contract were significantly related to POS.

A significant limitation of this study is the fact that data were collected using a self-report, single survey methodology. However, there were no patterns of significant correlations between self-report variables that seemed to indicate that this was a major issue in the current study. The primary implication of this study is that cadets’ perceptions of support (i.e. POS) provided by the organization do seem to influence their decisions to contract, with this influence being particularly notable in their freshmen year.

The current study represents a unique context where individuals are making decisions to commit to an organization for a minimum of four years after graduation. Further, the commitment is being made to a military organization. The initial findings of this analysis provided the organization in this study with keen insight regarding possible factors to address or be aware of in relation to cadets’ decisions to contract. This approach and these findings can be extended to other organizations in understanding factors impacting decisions related to long-term commitments of individuals.