Promotion and Personality in Military Officers as Moderated by Race

Career progression of U.S. military officers into the senior officer corps remains a difficult objective. Current research focuses on the lack of diversity in the senior officer corps and systematic factors inhibiting officers from promotions. This study was grounded in McCrae and Costa’s five-factor model of personality, to examine U.S. military officers’ personality characteristics and their relation to promotion while moderating for race. This quantitative study used binary logistical regression of survey data to establish whether the personality characteristics of openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism predict promotion. U.S. Army and Naval officers in ranks O4–O10 were sampled from social media sites and military officer associations. Data collection included the self-report personality survey IPIP-NEO-60 and a demographic questionnaire. Data were electronically collected through the Qualtrics website. Findings of the study indicated that the trait of agreeableness predicted promotion into the senior officer corps and that race did not have a moderating effect. Although not significant, a pattern of personality traits emerged from both promotion groups reflecting low neuroticism, openness, and extraversion with average agreeableness and conscientiousness. The results of this study may influence social change by informing military and federal leaders of the role personality characteristics play in those leading the American military and their rank advancement into the senior officer corps.