Abstract
This dissertation is a quantitative study on observed character strengths in cadets from Company Linge, at the Norwegian Military Academy. Through descriptive statistics and a correlation analysis, it aims to answer the research question that revolves around the existence of consistency between the different sources of assessment, and what the meaning of the existence or non-existence of consistency may mean. The study is part of a larger research and development project initiated at the Norwegian Military Academy called “Character in Military Officers”. The project is intended to contribute towards making the cadets’ leadership education and development better. This study is valuable to the project, but also to the organization the Norwegian Armed Forces. It contributes to the project by providing an analysis and discussion of the data collected from Company Linge, which can contribute towards the progression of the project. Further it contributes to the Norwegian Armed Forces, by discussing it within the framework of securing the competency and leadership development of their future officers. The paper draws close connections between the character strengths in the data and their relevance to an officer’s ability, to meet the responsibilities set by both the society and the organisation that they represent. In this study an observational instrument called “Observation of Character in field” has been used. The observational instrument assesses the cadet’s behaviour in relation to the 12 character strengths that have been established as important for a military leader to inhabit. The cadets assessed themselves, and were assessed by their peers and an instructor after having completed an extreme field exercise. The findings showed that the peers and instructor have a much higher consistency in the correlations than any of the other combinations. Further, the cadets have rated themselves higher in seven out of 12 character strengths. The four character strengths that the cadets have rated themselves highest on, are the same four found to be rated the highest in other military studies using the same character strengths. The findings support that the observational instrument has functioned well in relation to being able to observe character strengths through behaviour. As such, it could be able to contribute towards strengthening the organising of the cadet’s evolvement into an officer as early as in the recruitment and selection stage.