VALUE ORIENTATIONS AS PREDICTORS OF HARDINESS IN UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES PERSONNEL: EMPIRICAL FINDINGS

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between value orientations and psychological hardiness among Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel (N = 595) with verified combat experience. The data were collected in five waves (December 2024 – April 2026) using the Schwartz Value Survey (SVS, 58 items), the Maddi Hardiness Scale (45 items, α = 0.921), the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI), and the Combat Exposure Scale (CES). The TIPI served as a competing explanatory model to test whether basic personality traits, rather than values, account for individual differences in hardiness; the CES served as a methodological filter verifying combat experience (respondents with zero combat exposure, n = 30, were excluded). The study tested a single hypothesis: that personnel with well-defined priorities of particular values – self-direction, daring, achievement, national security, self-discipline, tradition, sense of existence, spiritual life, and religiosity – would demonstrate higher hardiness. The hypothesis was partially supported: the list of significant correlates split by sign. Values of an agentic orientation (achievement, goal-directedness, sense of existence, responsibility, competence, intellect, self-direction) were positively associated with hardiness (composite r = +0.368, p < 0.001), whereas values of an external orientation (indulgence, peace on earth, forgiveness, humility, social recognition, piety) were negatively associated (composite r = –0.348, p < 0.001). The grouping of significant correlates into two clusters – agentic and external – was performed post hoc, solely for convenience of presentation; the cluster labels are the author’s working terms. Additional findings include the absence of a significant association between combat exposure and hardiness (r = +0.056, ns) and the incremental validity of value orientations beyond personality traits (ΔR² = 0.027, F(2,587) = 13.71, p < 0.001). Religiosity as belief (r = –0.028, ns) and piety as behavioral submission (r = –0.134, p < 0.01) showed divergent associations. The discussion addresses the semantics of the “peace on earth” value in the Ukrainian political context of 2025–2026, limitations of the cross-sectional design, and implications for psychological training programs.