What Factors Influenced Turkish Military Officers’ and NCOs’ Motivation to Serve Prior to the July 2016 Coup Attempt?

• Author: Ozgur Solakoglu,Ugur Orak,Cihan Aydiner
• DOI: 10.1177/0095327X19841663
• Published date: 01 October 2020
• Date: 01 October 2020
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

What Factors

Influenced Turkish

Military Officers’

and NCOs’ Motivation

to Serve Prior to the July

2016 Coup Attempt?

Cihan Aydiner

1

, Ugur Orak

2

, and Ozgur Solakoglu

3

Abstract

Motivation is a key factor for the military institution to accomplish its goals. Extant

academic research, however, has generally focused on the combat motivation and

the motivation to serve has been understudied. This study examines the motiva-

tion to serve and its predictors among Turkish military officers and NCOs. The

aim of the current study is 2-fold: (1) to test the effectiveness of measures pro-

posed by previous studies in Turkish Armed Forces and (2) to build on the existing

body of knowledge by showing the impacts of perceived fairness and satisfaction

with social benefits. Survey data, which were conducted only 2 months before the

coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016, were used to assess the motivation.

Findings revealed that institutional and moral commitments, organizational

responsiveness, perceived fairness, and satisfaction with social benefits were

positive significant determinants of motivation to serve, while occupational com-

mitment had a negative relationship with it.

1

Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA

2

Utica College, Utica, NY, USA

3

Turkish Military Academy, Ankara, Turkey

Corresponding Author:

Cihan Aydiner, Louisiana State University, Stubbs Hall 322, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA.

Email: caydin1@lsu.edu

Armed Forces & Society

2020, Vol. 46(4) 635-656

ªThe Author(s) 2019

Article reuse guidelines:

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DOI: 10.1177/0095327X19841663

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Keywords

motivation to serve, commitment, Turkish Armed Forces, Turkish military officers

The scientific knowledge regarding the definition of “motivation” encompasses

many different definitions, classifications, and principles that are specific to a par-

ticular discipline. In military studies, there is a broad spectrum of thought regarding

the importance of motivation, but, indisputably, motivation is essential for individ-

uals and the military institution alike to accomplish both their peacetime and war-

time goals. The concept of motivation is generally classified into two groups

including motivation to serve and combat moti vation. Extant re search on motiva -

tion—that have generally been conducted in the U.S. context—has generally

focusedoncombatmotivationandmotivation to fight, which is not surprising

given the involvement of the U.S. military in numerous military operations in the

last decade. The concept of motivation to serve—which is more related to will-

ingness to serve in the military during peacetime, on the other hand—has been less

frequently studied by previous research. This study addresses the issue of motiva-

tion to serve and its predictors among Turkish military officers (TMO) and non-

commissioned officers (NCOs). It contributes to the existing body of knowledge

on military sociology—in general—and motivation to serve—in particular from

several aspects. Also, much of the literature on motivation to serve is on the

enlistment decision or the initial motivation. However, this study focuses on moti-

vation among the currently serving personnel.

At present, there is no single, comprehensible, and systematic theory of motiva-

tion to serve. There is only a nonintegrated set of studies that have developed largely

in isolation from one another, sometimes but not always disjointed by disciplinary

boundaries. Some of these studies revealed that commitment to the military orga-

nization was one of the most important predictors of motivation to serve in the

military (Griffith, 2008; Moskos & Wood, 1988; Segal, 1986; Woodruff, Kelty, &

Segal, 2006). In particular, they have highlighted some different forms of commit-

ment, including the institutional, occupational, and moral commitment, all of which

have been shown to produce different consequences with respect to motivation to

serve. Along with the studies emphasizing the im portance of different forms of

commitment, other studies found the organizational responsiveness—which refers

to soldiers’ perception of reliability of leaders and responsiveness of the institution

to their personal and professional needs—as another factor associated with the

motivation to serve (Ben-Dor, Pedahzur, & Hasisi, 2002; Waar, Bindl, Parker, &

Inceoglu, 2014). Thus, extant research has generally focused on different forms of

commitment and organizational responsiveness as potential predictors of motivation

to serve. A majority of these studies, however, have been conducted to military

organizations of what Caforio (2006) calls the first-level countries including the

636 Armed Forces & Society 46(4)