General intelligence, personality traits, and motivation as predictors of performance, potential, and rate of advancement of Royal Navy senior officers

Young, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9926-9007 and Dulewicz, V. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2910-3092 (2023) General intelligence, personality traits, and motivation as predictors of performance, potential, and rate of advancement of Royal Navy senior officers. Military Psychology. ISSN 1532-7876 doi: 10.1080/08995605.2023.2244818

Abstract/Summary

This paper assesses the impact of general intelligence, as well as specific personality traits, and aspects of motivation, on performance, potential, and advancement of senior leaders. A questionnaire survey was conducted on the full population of 381 senior officers in the Royal Navy with an 80% response rate. Performance, potential, and rate of advancement were established direct from the organization’s appraisal system; intelligence, personality traits and motivation were assessed, at the time of the study, using the Verify G+ Test, Occupational Personality Questionnaire, and Motivation Questionnaire. Findings suggest differences in motivation are more important than differences in general intelligence, or personality traits, in predicting assessed performance, potential within, and actual rate of advancement to, senior leadership positions. This is a rare example of a study into very senior leaders, validated against both formal appraisal data and actual rates of advancement. As a consequence of this study the Royal Navy has started to use psychometric-based assessments as part of the selection and development of its most Senior Officers.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/113005
Identification Number/DOI	10.1080/08995605.2023.2244818
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Henley Business School > Leadership, Organisations and Behaviour
Publisher	Informa UK Limited
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