Sentence Completion Test Verbal Defensiveness as a Predictor of Success in Military Personnel Selection

Abstract

A previous report (Picano, Roland, Rollins, & Williams, 2002 Picano, J. J., Roland, R. R., Rollins, K. D., & Williams, T. J. (2002). Development and validation of a sentence completion test measure of defensive responding in military personnel assessed for non-routine missions. Military Psychology, 14, 279-298.[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) showed sentence completion test (SCT) verbal defensiveness to be higher among elite military personnel who failed to complete a rigorous selection course. In this article, we prospectively evaluate whether SCT verbal defensiveness differentiates completion of a selection course for high demand military missions in a new sample of 125 military personnel. We further describe relationships between SCT verbal defensiveness and psychologist ratings of suitability for high demand military positions. Candidates high in SCT verbal defensiveness were less likely to complete a rigorous military selection course for high demand assignments and were twice as likely as those low in verbal defensiveness to leave early in the course. Psychologists rated candidates who were high in verbal defensiveness lower in overall suitability for high demand assignment and lower in motivation, trainability, and personality competence than candidates low in SCT verbal defensiveness. These findings support continued investigation of the SCT in military selection research.

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