Personality characteristics of future military leaders

Relatively little is known about the personality characteristics of militar y personnel, particularly those who are most successful in military careers . This study evaluated the personality characteristics of 530 third-year mi dshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy. Participants completed the Hogan Person ality Inventory and a demographic questionnaire. Class ranking data were al so obtained as an indicator of success at the Naval Academy. The results in dicated that compared with national norms, midshipmen scored somewhat highe r on scales of ambition, sociability, intellectance, and school success and lower on scales of adjustment, likability, and prudence. Ambition, prudenc e, intellectance, and school success were each significantly positively cor related with class standing. The implications of these findings for underst anding personality correlates of success in military leadership are discuss ed.