Published on 7 November 2025

Military Psychology and Military Pedagogics

The Department of Military Psychology and Pedagogics deals with the research and teaching of the psychological aspects of personnel selection, training and leadership in the military.
The Department develops and applies procedures for leadership selection, and improves these procedures further based on its practical experience and scientific findings. The Department explores what, fundamentally, motivates members of the armed forces in order to be able to design the best approaches for military training and leadership recruitment. By defining what we value in our military, we are able to provide a basis for the design of military training content and our organisational culture.
Finally, with a view to the stresses and strains of everyday military life and deployment, the Department examines individuals’ mental prerequisites and coping mechanisms. The focus here is on assessing and improving resilience. Through its activities at the interface between science and practice, the Department helps to create the best possible conditions for our military to fulfil its missions.

Main Areas of Research

Quality characteristics of selection and assessment processes
Key motivational factors and ways of influencing them
Impact of personality and context factors on commitment, job satisfaction and success
Stress and stress management in a military context
Measuring and training of resilience in the military, and evaluation of the effects of resilience training
Values and virtues in the armed forces and their impact on military education and organisational culture
Persuasion techniques and negotiation skills and strategies in the military environment