YEARS OF SERVICE AS A FACTOR OF HARDINESS AMONG MILITARY DOCTORS IN THE CONTEXT OF RESILIENCE RESEARCH

Abstract

The article highlights the role of years of service as a professional-biographical factor of hardiness among military doctors in the context of resilience research. The theoretical framework of the study is grounded in approaches that conceptualize resilience not merely as a personality trait, but as a dynamic process of psychological adaptation and personal growth under wartime conditions, as well as in the interpretation of hardiness as a conceptually related, yet not identical, psychological construct reflecting a system of stable personal resources for overcoming difficulties. Particular attention is paid to years of service as an indicator of cumulative military-professional experience that may be associated with the development of emotional-regulatory, motivational-value, and meaning-related resources of psychological stability in military doctors.

The findings of the analysis demonstrated that increases in years of service are associated with higher levels of overall professional hardiness, its emotional component, as well as professional interests and values. In addition, years of service were found to be related to basic beliefs, in particular perceptions of the justice of the world, the kindness of people, and the meaningfulness and coherence of the world, which indicates the strengthening of meaning-based psychological foundations in the process of a military doctor’s professional development. At the same time, some other psychological indicators revealed only trends toward differences, pointing to the complex and non-linear nature of the relationship between professional experience and the psychological resources of stability.

The results obtained provide grounds for considering years of service not merely as a formal indicator of the duration of military service, but as a significant factor of professional development associated with the gradual enhancement of hardiness. In substantive terms, these findings may be interpreted as reflecting the professional maturation of psychological stability, manifested in stronger emotional self-regulation, greater stability of the professional-value sphere, and the strengthening of the individual’s meaning-related resources. Overall, hardiness is interpreted as an important psychological resource that may constitute one of the prerequisites for the development of resilience in military doctors under wartime conditions.