Forced or free choice: Hardiness, need satisfaction, and engagement among military conscripts

Conscription is an exceptionally stressful life event for young adults. During service, some conscripts manage to cope with service challenges and demands, stay engaged and motivated. Others develop serious adjustment problems, which prevents them from continuing the service. The personality characteristic of psychological hardiness has been recognized as a protective factor against adversity and stressful events. The aim of this study is (1) compare levels of psychological hardiness between mandatory service volunteers and draftees (personal choice); (2) examine the direct and indirect effects of the relationship between psychological hardiness, basic psychological need satisfaction (Self-determination theory; Deci & Ryan, 2000) and engagement; (3) explore the potential moderating role of personal choice (i.e. volunteer service status) in the direct and indirect links between hardiness, need fulfilment, and engagement. The results among a sample of Lithuanian Armed Forces conscripts (N = 601) showed that conscripts who joined military service voluntarily scored significantly higher on hardiness compared to draftees. In addition, results of the structural equation analyses showed that the effect of psychological hardiness on conscripts’ engagement is at least partially mediated by psychological need satisfaction; this relationship is moderated by volunteer service status. This study is among the first to explore the role of personal choice (i.e. volunteer service status) for predicting conscripts’ engagement.