O piloto aviador militar : traços disposicionais, características adaptativas e história de vida

Tese de doutoramento, Psicologia (Psicologia da Social), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Psicologia, 2015

This thesis aims to understand the distinctive performance of the Portuguese Air Force (PrtAF) officers, namely the military pilots. Using the integrative model of McAdams and Pals (2006), based on the conceptual framework of McAdams (1993, 1996, 2001) life story, the present thesis evaluates the adequacy of goal orientation (Brett & Vandewalle, 1999; Button, Mathieu, & Zajac, 1996; Chen & Mathieu, 2008; Vandewalle, 1997), self-leadership (Houghton, 2000; Houghton & Neck, 2002) and organizational commitment (Allen & Meyer, 1990; Meyer & Allen, 1991) to the context of the PrtAF. It also examines these variables regarding relationships amongst them, as well as their linkage with the life stories and the narratives of those military pilots. The first study, with a quantitative nature, was developed as an initial work of adaptation and validation of the measuring instruments to assess the three variables identified above, specifically, Goal Orientation Scale (VandeWalle, 1997), Revised Self-Leadership Questionnaire (Houghton & Neck, 2002) and Commitment Scale in Workplace (Allen & Meyer, 1990). To this purpose, two samples were used. The adaptation phase sampled 29 students from the Air Force Academy (AFA) and the validation phase sampled 230 respondents (144 students of the AFA and 86 PrtAF pilots). The measurement models found were consistent with the factor structures conceptualized for: (i) goal orientation by VandeWalle (1997) and Watson, Meade, Surface, and VandeWalle (2007), i.e., 11 (from the initial 13) manifest variables loaded on three latent variables (learning, prove performance and avoid performance); (ii) self-leadership by Houghton (2000) and Houghton and Neck (2002), i.e., 22 (from the initial 35) manifest variables loaded on three latent variables (behavior focused strategies, natural reward strategies, and thought pattern strategies); (iii) organizational commitment by Allen and Meyer (1990) and Meyer and Allen (1991), i.e., 17 (from the initial 19) manifest variables loaded on three latent variables (affective, normative and continuance). These results also served as a starting point for the following two studies. The second study, also quantitative, showed that learning goal orientation predicted performance (in the 144 sampled AFA students) and organizational commitment (namely, affective and normative commitment in the 230 PrtAF respondents, i.e., 144 AFA students plus 86 PrtAF pilots). Moreover, self-leadership natural reward strategies mediated the relationship between learning goal orientation and academic performance, and self-leadership skills mediated the relationship between learning goal orientation and affective and normative commitment. These results also highlighted the importance of taking into account the study of these dimensions in order to achieve the aim of this thesis. The third study, also quantitative, identified the changes that the three variables emphasized in the previous study tend to suffer throughout the military career. As such, a quasi-longitudinal study was designed. Following a developmental logic, five cohorts were determined: 84 students in ab initio phase of their training (1st years), 35 students of the pilot course (4th years), 25 students in pilot training (final training/trainees), 72 active duty operational pilots (ranked as Lieutenant or Captain), and 14 active duty operational pilots (ranked as Major or above). In terms of results: (i) 1st year students, regardless of their area of expertise, showed no significant mean differences; (ii) 1st year and pilot training students, sharing the beginning of a new reality, amongst all cohorts, showed the closest mean values in the three dimensions studied; (iii) 4th year students, amongst all cohorts, presented the lowest mean values in the investigated dimensions; (iv) the emotional bond and the desire to stay in the organization showed by military pilots were positively associated with age/military seniority and negatively associated with dissatisfaction. Dissatisfaction due to a decrease in rewarding work experiences, in challenging missions, and in professional opportunities that enhance the sense of fulfillment and that confirm the expectations initially set. These results reinforced the aforesaid, concerning the importance of studying the role of these three variables on the distinctive performance of the military pilots. The fourth study, essentially qualitative, was crucial to deepen and to specify the knowledge gathered in the above studies, because it allowed a better understanding of the schemas that different generations of military pilots have used to give meaning to their life stories. Based on data collected from guided autobiography interviews to military pilots of past generations (3 Generals in reserve duty/retired), present generations (4 Generals and Senior Officers in active duty) and future generations (3 Captains and Lieutenants in active duty), several similarities in the psychological schemas of these military were identified. Similarities related to emergent categories (i.e., categories established following some preliminary examination of the data collected from the 10 narratives) and to a priori categories (i.e., categories established prior to the analysis based upon some conceptual theory). In relation to emerging coding, six categories were found: flying; leadership and command; moral values/principles and code of conduct; family context; joining the Air Force; and the death of fellow military pilots in flight. Regarding to a priori coding, two major lines of analysis were followed: predefined categories in line with data collected in previous studies, i.e., learning goal orientation, self-leadership, and affective/normative organizational commitment; and predefined categories in accordance with McAdams (1996) and McAdams et al. (2004), i.e., emotional tone, motivational themes and narrative complexity.