Measurement of Professional Value Orientation of Military Professionals

Abstract

The aim of the manuscript is to inform about the background, methodology, course, and results of research into the professional value orientation of Czech military professionals - students of the University of Defense (hereinafter UoD) military study programs - future career officers. The described research, aimed at determining the preference of values, represents an experiment. In addition to the observed value orientation, this research has been experimentally verified and, based on the results, a tool for objective determination of the military-professional value attitude of military professionals “Attitude Towards Moral Dilemma” (hereinafter ATMoD) has been designed for optimization. ATMoD is a revised inventory of value portraits of S. Schwartz's "Portrait Values Questionnaire" (hereinafter PVQ) created by authors of the manuscript for a military-focused community, focusing on the values of the so-called higher-order Conservatism (C), Openness to Change (OC), Self-Enhancement (SE) and Self-Transcendence (ST). The research sample consisted of 151 respondents, the mixed research design used PVQ inventory and ATMoD tool. Respondents' free answers in the qualitative part of ATMoD were evaluated using grounded theory. It was found that the conservative value orientation within the ATMoD tool is strengthened and there was a shift in the distribution of value profiles compared to the PVQ inventory. At the same time, research has shown the need to convert ATMoD from higher-order values to basic value types based on Schwartz's theoretical model of the relationship between motivational value types (Conformity, Tradition, Benevolence, Universalism, Self-Direction, Stimulation, Hedonism, Power, Security) for more accurate results.