Article

Military Values, Military Virtues, and Vulnerable Narcissism

among Cadets of the Swiss Armed Forces—Results of a
Cross-Sectional Study
Immanuel Schkade 1 , Dena Sadeghi-Bahmani 2,3 , Undine E. Lang 1 , Rebecca K. Blais 4 , Zeno Stanga 5,6 ,
Ismail I. Ülgür 5 , Serge Brand 7,8,9,10,11,12, * and Hubert Annen 13

1 Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel, 4002 Basel, Switzerland; [email protected] (I.S.);
[email protected] (U.E.L.)
2 Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; [email protected]
3 Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
4 Psychology Department, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA; [email protected]
5 Centre of Competence for Military and Disaster Medicine, Swiss Armed Forces, 3008 Bern, Switzerland;
[email protected] (Z.S.); [email protected] (I.I.Ü.)
6 Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology, Nutritional Medicine and Metabolism, University Hospital and
University of Bern, 3010 Bern, Switzerland
7 Center of Affective, Stress and Sleep Disorders (ZASS), Psychiatric Clinics of the University of Basel,
4002 Basel, Switzerland
8 Division of Sport Science and Psychosocial Health, Department of Sport, Exercise, and Health,
Department of Medicine, University of Basel, 4052 Basel, Switzerland
9 Substance Abuse Prevention Research Center, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences,
Kermanshah 6715847141, Iran
10 Sleep Disorders Research Center, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah 6715847141, Iran
11 School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1416634793, Iran
12 Center for Disaster Psychiatry and Disaster Psychology, Psychiatric Clinics of the University of Basel,
4002 Basel, Switzerland
Citation: Schkade, I.; 13 Military Academy, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH Zurich, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland;
Sadeghi-Bahmani, D.; Lang, U.E.; [email protected]
Blais, R.K.; Stanga, Z.; Ülgür, I.I.; * Correspondence: [email protected]
Brand, S.; Annen, H. Military Values,
Military Virtues, and Vulnerable Abstract: Background: For military leaders, military values and virtues are important psychological
Narcissism among Cadets of the Swiss prerequisites for successful leadership and for ethical and moral military behavior. However, research
Armed Forces—Results of a on predictors of military values and virtues is scarce. Given this background, we investigated
Cross-Sectional Study. Eur. J. Investig. whether Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB), resilience, and vulnerable narcissism might
Health Psychol. Educ. 2024, 14,
be favorably or unfavorably associated with military values and virtues, and whether vulnerable
2074–2086. https://doi.org/10.3390/
narcissism could moderate the association between the OCB-by-resilience-interaction, and military
ejihpe14070138
virtues. Methods: A total of 214 officer cadets (mean age: 20.75 years; 96.8% males) of the Swiss
Academic Editor: Francisco Manuel Armed Forces (SAF) volunteered to take part in this cross-sectional study. They completed a booklet
Morales Rodríguez of self-rating scales covering dimensions of military values and military virtues, OCB, resilience, and
Received: 16 May 2024
vulnerable narcissism. Results: Higher scores for military virtues were associated with higher scores
Revised: 22 June 2024 for military values, OCB, and resilience, and with lower scores for vulnerable narcissism. Multiple
Accepted: 17 July 2024 regression models showed that higher scores for OCB and resilience were associated with military
Published: 19 July 2024 values and virtues. Vulnerable narcissism moderated the association between military virtues, and the
OCB-by-resilience-interaction: the higher the vulnerable narcissism, the more the OCB-by-resilience-
interaction was associated with lower scores for military virtues. Conclusions: Among cadets of
the SAF, the associations between military values, military virtues, OCB, and resilience were highly
Copyright: © 2024 by the authors.
intertwined, while vulnerable narcissism appeared to attenuate the association between military
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
virtues, OCB, and resilience.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
Keywords: military values; military virtues; organizational citizenship behavior; resilience; vulnerable
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
narcissism
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/).

Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ. 2024, 14, 2074–2086. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe14070138 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ejihpe
Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ. 2024, 14 2075

1. Introduction
Military leaders are expected to behave by strictly following the ethical and moral
standards of warship [1], and to respect the International Laws of Nations, both in times of
peace and war [1,2]. Noteworthy, in antiquity, military values and military virtues were
critical for military behavior. Indeed, Thucydides used the example of the Peloponnesian
War and described the habituation of the Greek public to the “(. . .) disregard of religious
rules and rules similar to those of international law to which one had previously felt obliged
in the conduct of war. (. . .) The peak of inhumanity was reached when the Athenians in
the summer of 413 BC, for lack of financial resources, released a bloodthirsty Thracian
mercenary force back home and, under the leadership of the Athenian officer Dieitrephes,
slaughtered (. . .) the entire civilian population and, above all, all the children gathered in
the school (. . .)” [3,4]. Shifting from the ancient past to the recent past, in April 2004 the
incidents at Abu Ghraib prison became public, where US soldiers carried out inhumane
acts on prisoners [5]. Identically, the current examples of war crimes committed by the
Russian army describe by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights [6]
demonstrate that the importance of military values and virtues of military leaders have not
lost any of their importance [7–9]. On the contrary, similar to the literature from 2500 years
ago, the importance of military values and virtues has not diminished. Zanetti et al. [10,11]
dealt in depth with military values and virtues and analyzed their psychological structure
and related behavior. Military values, such as trust, comradeship or respect, are understood
as guiding principles adapted to the specific culture of the military environment [11]. Com-
plementarily, military virtues, such as courage, consideration or modesty, are understood
as moral traits [12] adapted to the specific culture of the military environment [11].

1.1. Military Values, Military Virtues, and Military-Related Behavior

What is not fully clear yet is what factors give rise to military values and virtues.
Current literature [10] showed that higher scores for personal values correlated with higher
scores for motivation to lead [13], leader performance [14], and optimal team perfor-
mance [15]. Other factors that may play a role are Organizational Citizenship Behavior
(OCB), resilience and vulnerable narcissism, defined as a person’s tendency to seek attention
and admiration.
More specifically, within the area of military psychology, OCB has gained increased
attention. Here, OCB is understood as an individual’s behavior that is discretionary, not
directly or explicitly recognized by the formal reward system, and that in the aggregate
promotes the effective functioning of the organization [16]. Organ [17] redefined OCB as
“contributions to the maintenance and enhancement of the social and psychological context
that supports task performance (. . .)” (p. 91).
In the military context, various trust-promoting behaviors of superiors have been
favorably associated with the OCB of subordinates [18]. Further, higher levels of OCB
predicted voluntariness to pursue a career as militia cadre [19], and students who per-
formed military service exhibited higher scores for OCB than students with no military
experience [20].
In search of further possible dimensions associated with personal values, it appeared
that resilience might be such a factor [21]. The concept of resilience [22] was initially
developed from longitudinal studies with children [23–27], where resilience described a
child’s ability to psycho-socially develop favorably despite difficult life and environmental
circumstances. More broadly, resilience is understood as the ability of a person to retain
mental health despite psychological adversity [28–30]. Resilience appears to be a protective
factor against stress [31,32] and to favorably influence coping with stress [31,33,34], with
adversity [32,35–39] and with traumatic events [40,41].
In the military context, higher scores for resilience were associated with lower scores
for chronic stress [42], and cadets’ resilience training appeared to reduce subjectively
perceived stress [43]. Brief resilience training seemed to improve the way cadets were
dealing with stressful situations and led them to recover more quickly [44]. Further,
Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ. 2024, 14 2076

among cadets, specific interventions to increase resilience led to higher scores for resilience,
which in turn were associated with higher scores for military performance [45], task-
oriented coping and psychological well-being [28], and with lower scores for perceived and
psychological distress [45]. Finally, higher scores for personal values, though not military
values and military virtues, were associated with fewer psychological symptoms, such
as post-traumatic, depressive, anxious and somatoform symptoms [21,46]. However, so
far, no studies have examined the associations between resilience and military values and
virtues, and further psychological dimensions.
Therefore, with the dimension of vulnerable narcissism, we investigated another but
seemingly opposed factor to those of previous constructs. The American Psychiatric Associ-
ation DSM-5-TR [47] defines narcissism as a distinct personality disorder, characterized, for
instance, by inflated self-esteem, craving for admiration and a lack of empathy, attachment
and intimacy. Narcissistic traits can also be on a normal continuum [48,49], and Wink [50]
described two types of narcissism: grandiose narcissism, which reflects traits related to
grandiosity, aggression, and dominance, and vulnerable narcissism, which is primarily
characterized by hypersensitivity to others’ opinions, an intense desire for approval, and
by defensiveness [51–53].
Vulnerable narcissism appears to be related to all forms of aggression among all
ages [54], to perpetration in the context of intimate partner violence [55], anxious at-
tachment [56] and to attachment anxiety [57], increased hostility, anger, and shame in
children [58], increased shame in young people [59] and low self-esteem among adults [57].
Moreover, higher scores for vulnerable narcissism were associated with higher scores
for emotion dysregulation [60–63], eating disorder symptoms [64–66], problematic so-
cial media use [51,67], social anhedonia [68], decreased mental toughness [69,70], and
hyper-competitiveness [71].
In the military context, aspects of narcissism, such as a strong sense of ego and a
high level of self-esteem, were appreciated in leaders, whereas manipulative behaviors
had a detrimental impact on leadership qualities [72]. Vulnerable narcissism appeared
to be a strong indicator of anti-social factors, such as aggression [73], and to predispose
to negative relationships within the unit [74]. Annen, et al. [75] showed in a study of
U.S. and Swiss military officer cadets that those scoring high on vulnerable narcissism
were also those scoring low on mental toughness and on sleep quality, while those also
had higher scores for perceived stress, and higher Dark Triad traits. Notably, Dark Triad
traits reflect personalities containing dimensions of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and
psychopathy, which are socially highly discouraged. Given this background, it appears
plausible that vulnerable narcissistic traits might unfavorably be associated with military
values and military virtues. However, to our understanding, it appears that there is no
research investigating this relationship between vulnerable narcissism and military values
and virtues.

1.2. The Present Study

To gain a deeper understanding of the co-occurring psychological dimensions as-
sociated with military values and virtues, we examined their associations with various
psychological constructs, such as OCB, resilience, and vulnerable narcissism.
The following three hypotheses and two research questions were formulated. First,
following previous research [19,20,76], we expected that military values and virtues and
OCB would be positively associated. Second, based on previous findings [21,46], we ex-
pected that military values and virtues and resilience would be positively associated. Third,
and following others [73–75], we expected that higher scores for military values, virtues,
OCB, and resilience would be associated with lower scores for vulnerable narcissism. The
research questions were: first, which psychological constructs (OCB, resilience, and vul-
nerable narcissism) were statistically more associated with military values and virtues?
Second, did vulnerable narcissism moderate the associations between OCB, resilience, and
military virtues?
Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ. 2024, 14 2077

To test the hypotheses and to answer the research questions, cadets of the Swiss
Armed Forces were cross-sectionally assessed (see details below). The study should allow
the shedding of more light on the nature and predictors of military values and military
virtues, which in former studies were associated with leader performance [14], optimal
team performance [15] and resilience [21,46].

2. Method
2.1. Procedures
Cadets of the Swiss Armed Forces were approached during their officer training
course. They were fully informed about the aims of the study, and the confidential and
anonymous data handling. Further, participation was voluntary, and participation, or
non-participation, was neither recorded on the cadets’ military records, nor considered for
their future academic career. Thereafter, participants signed the written informed consent
and completed a booklet of self-rating questionnaires on socio-demographic information,
military values and military virtues, OCB, resilience, and vulnerable narcissism (see details
below). Participants needed between 30 and 45 min to complete the booklet. The Mili-
tary Review Board of the Training and Education Command of the Swiss Armed Forces
approved the study, which was conducted in accordance with the seventh and current
revision [77] of the Declaration of Helsinki.

2.2. Participants
The sample consisted of 214 cadets (all cadets of the officer school) of the Swiss Armed
Forces (age: M = 20.75 years; SD = 2.021; range: 18–37 years, 3.2% women, 96.8% men)
during their officer training course in spring 2015. Inclusion criteria were: 1. Age 18 years
and older; 2. Being cadet and currently attending the officer training course. 3. Willing and
able to comply with the study conditions in German. 4. Signed written informed consent.
Exclusion criteria: 1. Resign from the study. 2. Leaving the officer training course.

2.3. Measures
2.3.1. Socio-Demographic Information
Participants reported on their age (years) and sex at birth (female, male).

2.3.2. Military Values and Virtues

To assess military values and virtues, participants completed the Military Values and
Virtues Questionnaire [11]. The self-rating questionnaire consists of 25 items on military
values and 42 items on military virtues. Typical items are: Military values: “Obedience” or
“Honesty”; military virtues: “Courage” or “Discipline”. Answers are given on a 4-point
Likert scales with the following anchor points: 1 (=values: I do not orient myself by; virtues:
does not apply to me at all) to 4 (=values: I do orient myself at any rate by; virtues: does
fully apply to me) to rate each of the values as to how far the participant orients as a
member of the Armed Forces by those values in everyday military decisions and actions,
and to rate each of the virtues in how far the characteristic applies to the participant as a
member of the Armed Forces. Higher sum scores reflect more pronounced military values
or virtues.

2.3.3. Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB)

To assess organizational citizenship behavior, participants completed the German
version of the Organizational Citizenship Behavior Questionnaire [78], which was modified
for the military context. The self-rating questionnaire consists of 25 items. Typical items are:
Altruism: “I help my comrades when they are overloaded with a task”; Conscientiousness:
“I am always on time”; Sportsmanship (inverse): “I consume a lot of time complaining
about trivial matters”; Courtesy: “I take steps to avoid problems with comrades”; Civil
virtue: “I keep abreast of changes in the Armed Forces”. Answers are given on 7-point-
Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ. 2024, 14 2078

Likert scales ranging from 1 (=strongly disagree) to 7 (=strongly agree), with a higher
overall sum scores reflecting a more pronounced OCB (Cronbach’s α = 0.81).

2.3.4. Resilience
To assess the grade of resilience, participants completed the German version [79] of the
Resilience Questionnaire (RS-14) [80–82]. The self-rating questionnaire consists of 14 items
assessing the grade of resilience, i.e., the psychological strength and ability to cope with
challenges, stress and setbacks. Typical items are: “When I’m in a difficult situation, I
can usually find my way out of it”, or “My belief in myself gets me through hard times”.
Answers are given on 7-point Likert scales with the following anchor points: 1 (=strongly
disagree) to 7 (=strongly agree). Higher sum scores reflect more pronounced resilience
(Cronbach’s α = 0.89).

2.3.5. The Hypersensitive Narcissism Scale

To assess vulnerable narcissism, participants completed the German version of the
Hypersensitive Narcissism Scale (HSNS) [83]. The self-rating questionnaire consists of
10 items. Typical items are: “I am secretly “put out” or annoyed when other people come
to me with their troubles, asking me for my time and sympathy”, or “I often interpret the
remarks of others in a personal way”. Answers are given on 5-point Likert scales ranging
from 1 (=very uncharacteristic or untrue, strongly disagree) to 5 (=very characteristic or
true, strongly agree), with higher sum scores reflecting a higher vulnerable narcissistic trait
(Cronbach’s α = 0.82).

2.3.6. Analytical Plan

Associations between military values, military virtues, OCB, resilience, and vulner-
able narcissism were calculated with a series of Pearson’s correlations. To run multiple
regression models, preliminary conditions were met [84–86]: N = 214 > 100; predictors
explained sufficiently the dependent variables (military values: R = 0.457; R2 = 0.209;
military virtues: R = 0.667; R2 = 0.447); the number of predictors: 3; 3 × 10 = 30 < 214;
Durbin-Watson coefficients were (military values: 1.838; military virtues: 1.962), indicating
that the residuals of the predictors were independent. Further, the variance inflation factors
(VIF) were between 1.425 and 1.625, while there are no strict cut-off points to report the risk
of multi-collinearity, VIF < 1 and VIF > 10 indicate multi-collinearity [85,86]. We further
explored the resilience x OCB-interaction effects, and the moderating effect of the degree of
vulnerable narcissism.
The level of significance was set at α < 0.05. All statistical calculations were performed
with SPSS® 29.0 (IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY, USA) for Apple Mac® .

3. Results
3.1. General Socio-Demographic Information
A total of 214 cadets took part in the study. Their mean age was 20.75 years (SD = 2.03).
Of these, 207 (=96.8%) were males, and seven (3.8%) were females.

3.2. Associations between Military Values, Military Virtues, Organizational Citizenship Behavior,
Resilience, and Vulnerable Narcissism
Table 1 reports the descriptive statistical indices and the correlation coefficients (Pear-
son’s correlations) for military values, military virtues, OCB, resilience, and vulnerable
narcissism. Please note that correlation coefficients are fully reported in the Table, and
accordingly not repeated in the text.
Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ. 2024, 14 2079

Table 1. Descriptive statistical indices and correlation coefficients (Pearson’s correlations) between
scores for military values, military virtues, Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB), resilience,
and vulnerable narcissism.

Dimensions
Military Vulnerable
Military Values OCB Resilience Mean (SD)
Virtues Narcissism
Military values - 0.71 *** 0.40 *** 0.40 *** −0.12 5.98 (0.54)
Military virtues - 0.63 *** 0.53 *** −0.15 5.73 (0.54)
OCB - 0.55 *** −0.41 *** 5.90 (0.51)
Resilience - −0.23 *** 3.60 (0.36)
Vulnerable narcissism - 2.72 (0.46)
Note: *** = p < 0.001.

Higher scores for military values were associated with higher scores for military virtues,
OCB, and resilience, and with lower scores for vulnerable narcissism (non-significant correla-
tion coefficient).
Higher scores for military virtues were associated with higher scores for OCB and
resilience, and with lower scores for vulnerable narcissism.
Higher scores for OCB were associated with higher scores for resilience and with
lower scores for vulnerable narcissism.
Higher scores for resilience were associated with lower scores for vulnerable narcissism.
Higher scores for vulnerable narcissism were associated with lower scores for OCB.
Overall, the pattern was such that higher military values, higher military virtues,
higher scores for OCB, and resilience were intercorrelated, while these scores, except for
military values, were associated with lower scores for vulnerable narcissism.

3.3. Psychological Dimensions Associated with Military Values

To further statistically associate military values with OCB, resilience, and vulnerable
narcissism, a multiple regression analysis was performed.
Table 2 reports the equation model. Higher scores for OCB and resilience were
statistically associated with military values, while vulnerable narcissism was excluded
from the equation, as it did not reach statistical significance.

Table 2. Multiple linear regression with military values as outcome variable, and OCB and resilience
as predictors.

Dimension Variables Coefficient Standard Error Coefficient β t p R R2 Durbin-Watson VIF

Military values Intercept 58.982 14.878 - 3.963 <0.001 0.457 0.209 1.838
OCB 8.41 2.319 0.284 3.627 <0.001 1.625
Resilience 0.484 0.139 0.255 3.486 <0.001 1.425
Excluded variable: Vulnerable narcissism; t < 1.0; p > 0.368.

3.4. Psychological Dimensions Associated with Military Virtues

To further statistically associate military virtues with OCB, resilience, and vulnerable
narcissism, a multiple regression analysis was performed.
Table 3 reports the equation model. Higher scores for OCB and resilience were
statistically associated with military values, while the following dimensions were excluded
from the equation, as they did not reach statistical significance: vulnerable narcissism;
resilience × OCB-interaction; resilience × OCB × vulnerable narcissism-interaction.
Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ. 2024, 14 2080

Table 3. Multiple linear regression with military virtues as outcome variable, and OCB and resilience
as predictors.

Dimension Variables Coefficient Standard Error Coefficient β t p R R2 Durbin-Watson VIF

Military virtues Intercept 41.88 20.907 - 2 0.046 0.667 0.445 1.962
OCB 23.705 3.258 0.477 7.275 <0.001 1.625
Resilience 0.855 0.196 0.268 4.372 <0.001 1.425
Excluded variables: Vulnerable narcissism; resilience × OCB-interaction; resilience × OCB × vulnerable
narcissism-interaction: t < 1.58; p > 0.114.

3.5. Associations between Military Virtues, Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Resilience, and
Vulnerable Narcissism
In a further step we explored the complex associations between military virtues, OCB,
resilience, and vulnerable narcissism. The observations were as follows:
The regression model in Table 3 shows that higher scores for OCB and resilience were
positively associated with military virtues. However, the multiplication of the residuals
of OCB and resilience was not associated with military virtues (R= −0.07). This zero-
association was counter-intuitive, and accordingly, we further explored whether vulnerable
narcissism might have moderated such an association. To this end, vulnerable narcissism
scores (mean = 2.70; SD = 0.46) were split into three categories: Low vulnerable narcissism
(n = 66; m = 2.20; SD = 2.24), medium vulnerable narcissism (n = 78; m = 2.71; SD = 0.08)
and high vulnerable narcissism (n = 70; m = 3.20; SD = 0.26).
Correlation coefficients were as follows:
The overall correlation coefficient between military virtues and the multiplication of
OCB and resilience was r = −0.15; the correlation coefficient was r = 0.23 among those with
Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ. 2024, 14, x FOR PEER REVIEW 8
low vulnerable narcissism; r = 0.03 among those with medium vulnerable narcissism, and
r = −0.33 among those with high vulnerable narcissism. These complex associations are
shown also in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Scatter plot beween the OCB × Resilience-interaction and Military Virtues, separated by
Figure
low, 1. Scatter
medium andplot beween
high the OCB
Vulnerable × Resilience-interaction
narcissim categories. and Military Virtues, separated by
low, medium and high Vulnerable narcissim categories.
To summarize, the complex association between military virtues, OCB and resilience
4. Discussion
was moderated by vulnerable narcissism categories. Simply put, the higher the vulnerable
narcissism, theofmore
The aims decreased
the present thewere
study association between
to explore military virtues
the associations betweenand the OCB–
military val-
resilience-link.
ues, military virtues, Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB), resilience, and vulnera-
ble narcissism among cadets of the Swiss Armed Forces (SAF). The key results were that
higher scores for military values, military virtues, OCB, and resilience were associated
with each other, while negative associations for these scores were observed for vulnerable
narcissism. Further, higher scores for OCB and resilience were statistically associated with
higher scores for military values and virtues. Importantly, the associations between mili-
Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ. 2024, 14 2081

4. Discussion
The aims of the present study were to explore the associations between military values,
military virtues, Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB), resilience, and vulnerable
narcissism among cadets of the Swiss Armed Forces (SAF). The key results were that higher
scores for military values, military virtues, OCB, and resilience were associated with each
other, while negative associations for these scores were observed for vulnerable narcissism.
Further, higher scores for OCB and resilience were statistically associated with higher scores
for military values and virtues. Importantly, the associations between military virtues,
and the OCB–resilience-link were moderated by the categories of low, medium, and high
vulnerable narcissism. The present findings expand upon the current literature in the
following three ways. First, we showed that OCB, resilience, and vulnerable narcissism
were associated with military values and virtues, though in a complex fashion. Second,
more specifically, vulnerable narcissism trait scores might be considered a problematic
factor for military virtues. Third, at a practical level, military values and virtues might
be further enhanced via resilience, given that specific, well-established, standardized and
military-oriented resilience training programs are available.
We formulated three hypotheses and two research questions, which we discuss below
as follows.
With the first hypothesis, we assumed that military values and OCB were positively
associated, and data did confirm this. Accordingly, the present results mirror previous
findings [19,20,76]. However, the present results expand upon previous findings in the
following ways. The present pattern of results was observed among cadets of the Swiss
Armed Forces (SAF), that is to say, among future officers of the SAF, who are not going to
become professional and full-time military officers. More specifically, given the peculiarities
of the organization of the SAF, cadets fulfil step by step their military career (militia), and,
alongside, they continue their private training or profession. Given this specific context,
though not deducible with the present data, it appears conceivable that cadets might also
transfer their mindset of military values and virtues, including OCB, to their private and
professional life context.
With the second hypothesis, we assumed that military values and virtues, and re-
silience were positively associated, and data did confirm this. Accordingly, the present
results mirror previous findings [21,46]. However, the present results expand upon previous
results in that we closed the time gap for the military values–military virtues–resilience-link-
research, which appeared to come to a halt about ten years ago [21,46]. As such, we consider
the present results as a valuable and timely update in the field of resilience research [42], in
general, and in the field of the resilience–military values-link, more specifically.
With the third hypothesis, we expected that higher scores for military values, virtues,
OCB, and resilience were associated with lower scores for vulnerable narcissism and, again,
data did confirm this. Accordingly, the present results matched what has been observed
elsewhere [73–75] (for a more comprehensive discussion of this result, see below).
With the first research question we asked about the statistical predictors of military
values and virtues, and both OCB and resilience were identified, while vulnerable narcis-
sism was not. The first two results are in line and expand current literature, while the third
is not. To explain this pattern of results, we propose the following explanations:
First, as various measures of OCB contain items that are based on ethical convic-
tions [87], it appears plausible that OCB predicts military values and virtues.
Second, resilience correlates significantly with personal values such as, e.g., tradition
or universalism [21,46], which overlap with certain military values und virtues. Low
resilience could make it more difficult to implement military values and virtues, which in
turn could lead to emotional dissonance. Though highly speculative, we hypothesize that
people with low resilience could subsequently devalue the orientation to military values
and virtues to reduce the inner conflict.
Third, we found that vulnerable narcissism was not statistically significantly negatively
associated with military values and military virtues. This result is surprising in that the
Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ. 2024, 14 2082

behavior of military cadre scoring high on vulnerable narcissism might become problematic,
as such military cadres appeared to be more aggressive and less thoughtful amongst
others [73,74,88].
In our second research question, we examined the aforementioned finding in more
depth by exploring dimensions of vulnerable narcissism as a moderator. To our understand-
ing, this is the first investigation of this kind in the field of military research. Importantly,
the degree of vulnerable narcissism from low to high, and thus speculatively from low to
more problematic (psychopathological) intensity, moderated the associations between the
resilience–OCB–military virtues-link. However, the present results are purely statistical
results, which are detached from a cadet’s behavior and military performance, above all as
regards leadership quality. In this context, previous research showed that military ranking
officers scoring high on (vulnerable) narcissism might show manipulative behaviors with
detrimental impact on leadership qualities [72]. As mentioned above, vulnerable narcissism
appeared to be a strong indicator of antisocial factors, such as aggression [73], and to predis-
pose to negative relationships within the unit [74]. According to Annen et al. [75], U.S. and
Swiss military cadres scoring high on vulnerable narcissism also reported higher Dark Triad
traits, lower mental toughness, poor sleep quality, and higher scores for perceived stress.
Overall, the present pattern of results appears to indicate that dimensions of vulnerable
narcissism might moderate the military values–virtues–resilience-link.

Limitations and Future Directions

Despite the novelty of the results, the following limitations are considered. First, by
nature, cross-sectionally collected data do not allow any direction of causality. Accordingly,
conclusions drawn from regression models are always statistical, but not causal conclusions.
Second, the sample consisted virtually of only male participants. While the prevalence rate
of females in the present sample (3.2%) is higher compared to the overall prevalence rates
of females within the SAF, ranging between 0.6% [89] and 0.9% [90], the overall results of
the present study should not be generalized to all females serving in the SAF. Relatedly,
participants of just one cadet military training school were assessed, and such an approach
might additionally bias the pattern of results. Third, it is conceivable that further latent and
unassessed factors, such as current symptoms of physiological or psychological ill-being,
might have biased two or more variables in the same or opposite directions. Specifically, it
appeared counter-intuitive and surprising that military values and military virtues were
statistically unrelated to narcissism traits. To counter such an apparent contradiction, in the
future, semi-structured and qualitative interviews might enable a deepened understanding
of unexplored cognitive–emotional processes. Further, given that the present data were
gathered in spring 2015, it would be interesting to know, whether and to what extent
the pattern of results would be identical or not in the current period of time. In this
view, fourth, in future studies, above all, the quantity and quality of sleep should be
considered as interfering factor: indeed, there is sufficient evidence that sleep patterns are
impaired among military personnel [91–93] and, almost by nature, poor sleep and impaired
cognitive and emotional processing are intertwined [94–97]. Fifth, it would have been
informative to know whether and, if so, to what extent the current dimensions of military
values, military virtues, OCB, resilience, and vulnerable narcissism were related to a cadet’s
military qualifications, including their leadership qualifications. Future studies should
therefore assess dimensions of military values and virtues longitudinally and associate
these dimensions with physiological and psychological well-being, including leadership
qualifications. Specifically, it may be interesting to investigate, whether military values and
military virtues may change in the course of the officer school in relation to the strenuous
physical and psychological pressure and possible selection to continue or to drop out from
the officer school.
Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ. 2024, 14 2083

5. Conclusions
Among cadets of the SAF, OCB, resilience, and low vulnerable narcissism were as-
sociated and contributing psychological factors of military values and virtues. Traits of
vulnerable narcissism might be considered a risk factor for a cadet’s military behavior.
Given that standardized and military-tailored resilience training programs are available,
such specific interventions might further improve military values and virtues, and dimen-
sions of OCB, while possibly decreasing vulnerable narcissism traits in parallel.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, I.S., D.S.-B., U.E.L., R.K.B., Z.S., I.I.Ü., S.B. and H.A.;
Methodology, I.S., D.S.-B., U.E.L., R.K.B., Z.S., S.B. and H.A.; Validation, I.S., D.S.-B., R.K.B. and Z.S.;
Formal analysis, I.S., U.E.L., Z.S., S.B., I.I.Ü. and H.A.; Investigation, I.S., D.S.-B., U.E.L. and S.B.;
Resources, I.S., D.S.-B., Z.S., I.I.Ü., S.B. and H.A.; Data curation, I.S., D.S.-B., U.E.L., R.K.B. and H.A.;
Writing—original draft, I.S., D.S.-B., U.E.L., R.K.B., Z.S., I.I.Ü., S.B. and H.A.; Writing—review and
editing, I.S., D.S.-B., U.E.L., R.K.B., Z.S., I.I.Ü., S.B. and H.A.; Supervision, Z.S. and H.A.; Project
administration, R.K.B. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: The study was supported by the Centre of Competence for Military and Disaster Medicine,
Swiss Armed Forces, Bern, Switzerland. The Centre of Competence for Military and Disaster Medicine
of the Swiss Armed Forces had no influence on the content of the present manuscript.
Institutional Review Board Statement: Ethic Committee Name: Ethikkommission Zentral-und Nord-
westschweiz (EKNZ), Basel, Switzerland; Approval Code: 2017-00841; Approval Date: 19 June 2017.
Informed Consent Statement: All participants signed the written informed consent.
Data Availability Statement: Data belong to the Swiss Armed Forces (SA), and are not shared so far
with third parties.
Acknowledgments: The authors acknowledge the support of the Centre of Competence for Military
and Disaster Medicine, Swiss Armed Forces, Bern, Switzerland.
Conflicts of Interest: All authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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