3 - (SYM 61) Conceptualizing and Assessing Military Identity in Active-duty Service Members: The Importance of Warrior Identity and Honor Ideology

This presentation includes two empirical investigations about the construct validity of two important aspects of service member identity. The first investigation focused on service member felt sense of warrior identity. Previously only studied in veterans, warrior identity is multi-faceted, including a service member’s felt sense of connection to the military, how central military values are to their core self-conception, etc. This instigation details the adaptation of the Warrior Identity Scale (WIS) in a sample of N=414 active-duty enlisted U.S. Army soldiers (91.7% male, 68.4% rank E1-E4, 57.4% aged 18-24 years). The revised WIS demonstrated good fit, χ²(209)=620.594, p < .001, RMSEA=.069, CFI=.981, TLI=.977, SRMR=.040. Internal consistencies ranged from α=.73 to .93. WIS subscales demonstrated discriminant correlations with important military culture outcomes (e.g., expectation to remain in service until retirement age) as well as mental health outcomes (e.g., purpose in life, depression symptoms, suicidal thinking). The second investigation focuses on honor ideology, or the belief that one’s reputation must be maintained and defended at all costs. Previous research has linked honor ideology to important upstream suicide prevention concerns in civilians, such as owning one or more firearms or holding disbelief that secure storage of firearms is related to suicide prevention. In a study of N=301 active-duty service members of the U.S. Army (82% male, 67.9% rank E1-E4, 51.2% aged 18-24 years), honor ideology was lower in those who currently do not privately own a firearm and do not intend to own after separation from the military (M=4.08, SD=1.05) compared with both those who do not currently own a private firearm but plan to after separation (M=4.67, SD=1.03, d=−0.56) and those who currently own a private firearm and plan to after separation (M=4.83, SD=1.02, d=−0.72). Higher levels of honor ideology were related to lower belief in the relationship between private firearms ownership and suicide risk (r=-0.16, p< 0.001). In understanding the acceptability, feasibility, and sustainability of mental health and suicide prevention programs, the understanding and assessment of military-relevant cultural factors is integral. This set of investigations highlights the importance of honor ideology and warrior identity in these efforts and provides resources for their conceptualization and measurement in active-duty military.