Military Identity and Psychological Functioning: A Pilot Study

Abstract

While previous research has examined the relationship between group identity and functioning, the presence of military identity and its effects are relatively unexplored. We created the Warrior Identity Scale to examine this aspect of postdeployment functioning using online surveys with veterans. Results indicate more symptomatic veterans displayed higher scores on subscales of interconnectedness and seeing the military as a family. Public and private military regard, however, correlated with perceived social support and positive affect. Our results support the importance of military identity in functioning and suggest further study is needed.