Instructor and Trainee Judgments of Cohesion in Mixed-Gender Military Teams.

Conclusions: Our findings agree with a previously published analysis of recruit performance over a 5-year period (2011-2015). Composite instructor ratings of recruit performance, including their teamwork, were similar for males and females regardless of the gender composition of platoons, which ranged from all male to 45% female. The next step in this research is to determine the pattern and dynamics of bonding between team members and their leaders as soldiers progress through their advanced training and ultimately operational deployment. Such research should reveal whether any differences in cohesion appear in relation to team gender composition. The present results have useful implications for health professionals. When discussing feelings of stress, depression, and/or with male or female military clients, health professionals may find it worthwhile to explore their clients' sense of bonding with their team members, their leaders, and their wider organization as one possible contributor to the individual's concern. By the same token, advice aimed at promoting the three dimensions of cohesion may help capitalize on their protective effects. PMID: 30395263 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Military Medicine - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Mil Med Source Type: research