Perceived Combat Readiness as
Collective Efficacy: Individual- and
Group-Level Analysis
Boas Shamir
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Israel
Esther Brainin
Department of Behavioral Sciences
Israel Defense Forces
Tel-Aviv, Israel
Eliav Zakay
School of Leadership Development
Israel Defense Forces
Netanya, Israel
Micha Popper
Department of Psychology
Haifa University
Haifa, Israel
In this study, we conceptualized perceived combat readiness, an important component
of morale, in terms of collective efficacy beliefs and examined some of the anticipated
correlates of collective efficacy beliefs as they apply to military combat units. We fo-
cused on the following variables: soldiers’ experience, leader’s tenure, leader’s confi-
dence in the unit, soldiers’ confidence in the leader, unit discipline, and members’ iden-
MILITARY PSYCHOLOGY, 2000, 12(2), 105–119
Copyright © 2000, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Requests for reprints should be sent to Boas Shamir, Department of Sociology and Anthropology,
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91905, Israel.
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