Implicit and explicit measures of loyalty assessment among military cadets

Abstract

Objective To explore the relevant relationship and specificity between the implicit and explicit loyalty of military cadets in order to provide a theoretical basis and objective indicators for a more comprehensive and objective assessment for individual loyalty. Methods E-Prime 2.0, a classic implicit association paradigm was employed to construct an implicit association loyalty test for 64 military cadets. Simultaneously, an explicit loyalty measurement was conducted using the Chinese Military Personnel Loyalty Scale. Results ① Significant implicit effect was observed in the loyalty assessment of military cadets, indicating a general tendency to perceive higher levels of personal loyalty and lower levels of loyalty to external entities. ② Explicit loyalty assessment revealed that the participants had the highest loyalty score towards the Party, the Nation, and the People (4.79±0.34), followed by the loyalty score to their profession (4.38±0.53), and the relatively lower loyalty score towards the unit and leaders (4.03±0.83). Among the 3 dimensions of loyalty, the normative loyalty score ranked highest, while continuance loyalty score took lower. ③ There were no correlations among the scores of loyalty to the Party, the Nation, and the People (r=-0.030, P=0.823), to the profession (r=-0.047, P=0.728), to the unit (r=0.050, P=0.710), or to the leaders (r=0.043, P=0.749). Conclusion The implicit effect in the loyalty assessment is significant in military cadets, and there is no significant correlation between explicit and implicit loyalty measurements. Thus, we cannot rely solely on explicit measurements to assess their loyalty attitudes.

Keywords

• loyalty
• implicit association test
• implicit effect
• military cadets