Title
Psychological Safety During Military Integrations
Author
Wermser, F.
Täuber, S.
Essens, P.J.M.D.
Molleman, E.
Publication year
2016
Abstract
Increased military cooperation between member states of the European Union is a political given. The Netherlands and Germany form a spearhead in this process by integrating entire military units (i.e., brigades, battalions, companies) into higher-order units of the respective other nation (i.e., divisions, brigades, battalions). Researchers and decision makers emphasize that military integration is a long-term process for which the costs come before the benefits. In this chapter we will suggest that, in addition to the well-recognized financial, technical and procedural challenges resulting from military integrations, attention has to be paid to challenges revolving around soldiers’ identities and cultural differences. Integrations are likely to disrupt soldiers’ social environment and bear the risk of (intercultural) tensions at work—thereby impeding perceptions of psychological safety. By providing an understanding of the cultural and identity processes unfolding during a military integration this chapter aims to inform decision makers and encourage future research on how to overcome the initial psychological costs of military integrations.
Subject
Human & Operational Modelling
HOI - Human Behaviour & Organisational Innovations
ELSS - Earth, Life and Social Sciences
Military integrations
Organizational identification
Identity continuity
Cultural differences
Expectancy violation
Psychological safety
To reference this document use:
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:361a9476-b454-4846-89bd-5cbf6289415b
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-135-7_8
TNO identifier
574896
Publisher
Springer
Source
NL ARMS Netherlands Annual Review of Military Studies, 147-162
Document type
bookPart