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Information about Morale

Morale, also known as esprit de corps when discussing the morale of a group, is an intangible term used for the capacity of people to maintain belief in an institution or a goal, or even in oneself and others. The second term applies particularly to military personnel and to members of sports teams, but is also applicable in business and in any other organizational context, particularly in times of stress or controversy.

According to Alexander H. Leighton, "morale is the capacity of a group of people to pull together persistently and consistently in pursuit of a common purpose".[1]

Military morale

In a military sense, there are two meanings to morale. Primarily it means the cohesion of a unit, task force, or other military group. An army with good supply lines, sound air cover and a clear objective possesses, as a whole, can be said to have "good morale" or "high morale." Historically, elite military units such as the Praetorian Guard, Napoleon's Imperial Guard, and many Special Forces or elite units like the United States Marine Corps, French Foreign Legion, Green Beret, SAS, and Spetnaz, have "high morale" due to both their elite training and pride in their unit. When a unit's morale is said to be "depleted", it means it is close to "crack and surrender", as was the case with Italian units in North Africa during World War II. It is well worth noting that generally speaking, most commanders do not look at the morale of specific individuals but rather the "fighting spirit" of divisions, battalions, ships, etc as a whole.

Factors affecting military morale

Despite the intangible nature of morale, improvements in material factors (such as remuneration, food and shelter) can improve the morale. However, history is filled with stories of the self-will and determination of a poorly supplied army maintaining morale to the very end, such as the Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War.

Military morale can benefit from

National public morale in war

Morale in warfare is also related to the morale of a nation's population. A nation whose citizens lose their will to fight often loses the war as well.

A nation's population is likely to retain high wartime morale when:
  • The objectives of a war are clearly understood by the public.
  • The objectives of a war are valued by the public.
  • A public believes the war can be won.
  • A public believes the war is worth winning.
  • A public fears the consequences of losing the war.
The morale of a civilian population can also increase or decrease due to exposure to propaganda from their government or opposition forces, respectively. Psychological warfare is a major part of modern warfare. Nation states, politically motivated individuals, religious activists, and secular pressure groups employ psychological warfare to target the minds of citizens in nations and cultures they are opposed to.

Since at least the time of Carl von Clausewitz' On War, maintenance of morale has been considered one of the fundamental "Principles of War". Sir Basil Liddell Hart regarded morale even more fundamentally:

The aim of a nation in war is to subdue the enemy's will to resist,...


Sun Tzu, in his book The Art of War, also mentions morale of nations, as well as armies.

Morale in the workplace

Workplace events play a large part in changing employee morale, such as heavy layoffs, the cancellation of overtime, cancelling benefits programs, and the influence of unions. Other events can also influence workplace morale, such as sick building syndrome, low wages, and employees being mistreated.

Factors influencing morale within the workplace include:

  • Job security.
  • Staff feeling that their contribution is valued by their employer.
  • Realistic opportunities for merit based promotion.
  • The work 'culture'.
  • Team composition.
  • Management style.
  • The perceived status of the work being done by the organization as a whole.
  • The perceived social or economic value of the work being done by the organization as a whole.

See also

References

1. ^ Alexander H. Leighton, Human Relations in a Changing World: Observations on the Uses of the Social Sciences (1949)
Morale, also known as esprit de corps when discussing the morale of a group, is an intangible term used for the capacity of people to maintain belief in an institution or a goal, or even in oneself and others.
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Belief is the psychological state in which an individual is convinced of the truth or validity of a proposition or premise (argument). Belief does not necessarily confer the ability to adequately prove one's main contention to other people, who may disagree.
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Military has two broad meanings. In its first sense, it refers to soldiers and soldiering. In its second sense, it refers to armed forces as a whole. Over the years, military units have come in all shapes and sizes.
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TEAM may be an acronym for:
  • The Electors' Action Movement, a municipal political party in Vancouver, British Columbia,
  • The European Anti-Maastricht Movement,
  • The Evangelical Alliance Mission,
  • Transmission Electron Aberration-corrected Microscope,

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Alexander "Alec" H. Leighton (July 17, 1908-August 11, 2007) was a sociologist and psychiatrist of dual citizenship (United States, by birth, and Canada, since 1975). He is best known for his work on the Stirling County (Canada) Study and his contributions to the field of
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Military science is the study of the , psychology, practice and other phenomena which constitute war and armed conflict. It strives to be a scientific system that if properly employed, will greatly enhance the practitioner's ability to prevail in an armed conflict with any
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Please [improve the article] or discuss this issue on the talk page. This article has been tagged since May 2007.
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Praetorian Guard (in Latin: praetoriani) consisted of a special force of bodyguards used by Roman Emperors. Before being used by the emperors, a Roman general's bodyguard, also styled the praetorian guard, was employed, dating at least to the Scipio family — around
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Imperial Guard (French:Garde impériale) was originally a small group of elite soldiers of the French Army under the direct command of Napoleon I, but grew considerably over time. It acted as his bodyguard and tactical reserve, and he was careful of its use in battle.
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The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a branch of the United States military responsible for providing power projection from the sea,[1] utilizing the mobility of the U.S. Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces.
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French Foreign Legion (French: Légion étrangère) is a unique elite unit within the French Army established in 1831. It was created as a unit for foreign volunteers, because foreigners were forbidden to enlist in the French Army after
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For other uses of the phrase, see Green Berets.


The green beret is the official headgear as part of the uniform of several military forces.
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Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) is the principal special forces unit of the British Army. A small and secretive institution, it sometimes attracts a disproportionate amount of media coverage. The SAS, today, serves as a model for similar units fielded by other countries.
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Russian special purpose regiments or Spetsnaz, Specnaz (Войска специального наз
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North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven territories:

  • Algeria
  • Egypt
  • Libya

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Remuneration is pay or salary, typically monetary payment for services rendered, as in an employment.

See also

Remuneration can include:
  • Commission
  • Compensation methods (in online advertising and internet marketing)

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Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was most often arrayed against the Union Army of the Potomac.
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American Civil War (1861–1865) was a major war between the United States (the "Union") and eleven Southern slave states which declared that they had a right to secession and formed the Confederate States of America, led by President Jefferson Davis.
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Food is any substance, usually composed primarily of carbohydrates, fats, water and/or proteins, that can be eaten or drunk by an animal or human being for nutrition or pleasure.
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Water is a common chemical substance that is essential to all known forms of life.[1] In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or state, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor.
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Shelter refers to a typically basic structure or building that covers or provides protection, including the following:
Protection from the weather
  • House
  • Mountain shelter or hut
  • Shack

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The word leadership can refer to:
  1. The process of leading.
  2. Those entities that perform one or more acts of leading.
  3. The ability to affect human behaviour so as to accomplish a mission designated by the leader

Terminology, usage and conceptual scope


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Training refers to the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies as a result of the teaching of vocational or practical skills and knowledge that relates to specific useful skills.
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volunteer is someone who serves in a community or for the benefit of natural environment primarily because they choose to do so. Many serve through a non-profit organization – sometimes referred to as formal volunteering, but a significant number also serve less formally,
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Conscription is a general term for involuntary labor demanded by some established authority, but it is most often used in the specific sense of government policies that require citizens (often just males) to serve in their armed forces.
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Value is a concept that describes the beliefs of an individual or culture. A set of values may be placed into the notion of a value system. Values are considered subjective and vary across people and cultures.
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Loyalty is faithfulness or a devotion to a person or cause.

Social and cultural

Loyalty evolved as devotion for one's family, gene-group and friends. Loyalty comes most naturally amongst small groups or tribes where the prospect of the whole casting out the individual
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A nation is a form of cultural or social community. Nationhood is an ethical and philosophical doctrine and is the starting point for the ideology of nationalism. Members of a "nation" share a common identity, and usually a common origin, in the sense of ancestry, parentage or
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Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate,") generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significant importance.
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