The Goal of Motivation in the Military. Soldier Satisfaction or Soldier Performance

Most studies to date dealing with worker motivation have concentrated on worker satisfaction, since most managers and researchers apparently assume a positive correlation between worker satisfaction and worker performance. This study was designed to by-pass this assumption and determine the correlation between the junior enlisted soldier's (E-1 through E-4) perceptions of 18 job- related factors, his/her level of performance and his/her level of absenteeism (AWOL). Again, this study approaches only the level of response-performance-AWOL correlations with no attempt at supporting or refuting the satisfacton-leads-to-performance assumption. Analysis revealed: A positive correlation between level of response and performance. Considerably higher response-performance correlations for Combat Arms and Combat Service Support than for Combat Support. No overall correlation between level of response and AWOL. However further analysis revealed a negative correlation between AWOL and three out of four factor sub-scales. A negative correlation between level of performance and AWOL.
Master's thesis.