Military Psychology

Military members operate within situations and environments that most people never experience. They must be superbly trained, physically fit, and emotionally strong and are burdened with a degree of responsibility and risk found in few other occupations.

The discipline of military psychology involves the systematic and scientific study of the selection, training, adaptation, and performance of soldiers. Military psychology, by necessity, is a heterogeneous field of inquiry. On the one hand, it draws on all subdisciplines of psychology to understand the variables that affect soldier performance while on the other hand, lessons learned from military psychology are of vital importance to all areas of psychology.

The purpose, therefore, of this collection of readings in military psychology is to capture significant developments from military psychology that are of general interest and importance to all psychologists and to promote understanding in human behavior in challenging contexts.

Volume I: Selection, Training, and Performance captures significant advances in how soldiers are selected, assigned, and trained.

Volume II: Applied Experimental and Engineering Psychology includes topics of human factors engineering, cognitive engineering, ergonomics, situational awareness, and soldier performance.

Volume III: Stress and Resilience focuses on classic and contemporary studies of combat stress and its consequences.

Volume IV: Leadership, Culture, and Morale advances the understanding of leading people in the contexts of dangerous environments.