Abstract:
The military is an integral part of any nation’s peace and security, as well as
international development. To ensure that military personnel are adequately equipped,
nations invest multiple resources into the training and retention of military personnel.
Situating this study on Herzberg’s Two Factor theory, the study set out to examine if
motivation to join the military matched expectations to reality, which in turn was
associated with the decision to stay in the military or to leave after training. A
quantitative approach and descriptive correlational design used. Sampling was
purposive and convenient, involving 400 military personnel. Principal Components
Analysis was used to extract factors for motivation, matched expectation, and
retention. The instrument assessing motivation loaded on six factors; that of matched
expectation to reality loaded on five factors, and that of retention loaded on two
factors. A correlational analysis to determine the association among the factors
demonstrated strong positive correlation. The results indicated that what motivated
participants to enter the military varied including financial, family, desire to protect
the country, and attraction for the uniform. Specifically, when participants discovered
that their expectations, for example, about financial security, matched reality, they had
the tendency to stay; they left if the expectations were not met. It was recommended
that counselling for the military take a multi-faceted approach to include providing as
much of in-service training concerning the reality of military life. Another
recommendation consisted of guiding personnel on career paths while in service and
options after retirement.
Description:
A thesis in the Department of Counselling Psychology,
Faculty of Educational Studies,
submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Master of Philosophy (Guidance and Counselling)
in the University of Education, Winneba
OCTOBER 2022