Psychometric Validation of a Military Morale Instrument

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from the study on validating a military morale instrument through work engagement and burnout concepts.

Military Morale

The shared enthusiasm and commitment that energise soldiers to achieve mission goals.

Work Engagement (WE)

A positive, work-related state typified by vigour, dedication and absorption.

Burnout (BO)

A persistent, negative work-related state marked by exhaustion, cynicism and reduced efficacy.

Vigour

High energy and mental resilience, willingness to invest effort and persist at work.

Dedication

Strong involvement in work, felt as significance, enthusiasm, inspiration, pride and challenge.

Cynicism

A detached, negative attitude toward the value of one’s work.

Exhaustion

Draining loss of mental or emotional energy caused by work demands.

Psychometric Properties

Statistical indicators (reliability, validity, etc.) showing how well an instrument measures a construct.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)

Technique that tests whether data fit a hypothesised measurement model.

Configural Invariance

Evidence that the same factor structure holds across comparison groups.

Metric Invariance

Indicates that factor loadings are equal across groups, allowing comparison of relationships.

Scalar Invariance

Shows that item intercepts/residuals are equal across groups, permitting mean comparisons.

Two-Factor Model (Morale–Burnout)

Model in which morale items load on one factor and burnout items load on another.

Four-Factor Model

Model separating dedication, vigour, cynicism and exhaustion into distinct, correlated factors.

Modified Four-Factor Model

Adapted version with one vigour item moved to dedication and one cynicism item removed for better fit.

Diagonally Weighted Least Squares (DWLS)

Estimator suited for CFA with ordinal, non-normal data.

Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA)

Fit index; lower values (≤ .08) indicate close model–data fit.

Comparative Fit Index (CFI)

Incremental fit index; values ≥ .93/.95 signal good model fit.

Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR)

Average standardised difference between observed and predicted correlations; ≤ .08 is desired.

Expected Cross-Validation Index (ECVI)

Statistic estimating how well a model would fit a new sample; smaller values are better.

McDonald’s Omega (ω)

Reliability coefficient reflecting internal consistency of a scale’s items.

Short Morale Questionnaire (SMQ)

Six-item scale assessing motivation, energy and enthusiasm for mission success.

Direct Morale Question (DMQ)

Single or few items that ask respondents to rate their own or unit morale directly.

Utrecht WE & BO Measure (WEBO)

16-item instrument combining work-engagement and burnout subscales to assess military morale.

Measurement Invariance

Property showing a scale measures the same construct in the same way across groups.

Satorra-Bentler Scaled χ² (Δχ²)

Adjusted chi-square difference test used to compare nested CFA models.

Effect Size ε²

Proportion of variance explained by group differences in non-parametric tests (e.g., Kruskal-Wallis).

Spearman’s Rho (ρ)

Non-parametric correlation coefficient for monotonic relationships.

Professional Soldier

Full-time career member of the armed forces.

Conscript Soldier

Individual completing compulsory military service for a limited period.

WE–BO Opposition

Concept that vigour opposes exhaustion and dedication opposes cynicism, creating a negative WE–BO correlation.

Absorption

State of deep immersion in work where time passes quickly; a possible consequence of engagement.

Factor Loading

The strength of the link between an observed item and its latent factor in CFA.

Fit-Index Cut-off Criteria

Recommended thresholds (e.g., CFI ≥ .93, RMSEA ≤ .08) used to judge model adequacy.