Engagement, self-concept and leaving home in military personnel

Conceptual framework: Studies on military personnel leaving home are scarce and no studies were found relating military personnel leaving home to personal (self-concept) and motivational (work engagement) factors. Leaving home represents breaking the routines and previous lifestyle of military personnel, which requires adaptation to a different environment and provides social and housing challenges. Homesickness may cause depressive symptoms and have a negative impact in adaptation, well-being and school success. Objectives: Hence, the present study aims to analyse the engagement differences in trainees from the Training Course for Petty Officers 1st Class (Curso de Formação de Sargentos - CFS) of the Portuguese Navy regarding self-concept and contextual factors. Methodology: The study’s methodology made use of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, (Schaufeli, Salanova, González-Romá & Bakker, 2002), the Assessment Scale for Trainee Engagement in the Portuguese Navy (Frade & Veiga, 2014), as well as the Assessment Scale for Trainee Self-Concept in the Portuguese Navy (Frade & Veiga, 2016). The sample was comprised of 149 trainees from the Training Course for Petty Officers 1st Class of the Portuguese Navy. Results: Trainees that had left home and presented low self-concept reached higher levels of dedication, vigour and total engagement than those who had not left home. On the other hand, trainees who had not left home and presented low self-concept reached higher results in absorption than those who had left home. As for trainees that had left home but presented a high self-concept, higher levels were reached in all dimensions of engagement with the exception of behavioural engagement. Conclusion: The result analysis allowed the finding of connections between trainee engagement, their self-concept and leaving home. The study includes recommendations that support management actions in the Portuguese Navy towards the promotion of engagement in their Human Resources for learning and work performance situations.