SOME RESEARCH PROPOSALS 



455 



life aboard a submarine, such as the realistic 

 (physical) situation into which the men are 

 placed and to which they must adjust, the 

 particular spacial and temporal demands 

 made upon the submariner, the kind of emo- 

 tional and physical tolerances and skills 

 needed, the dynamics of the groups that 

 exist aboard the submarine, the dagree of 

 responsibility and level of intellectual and 

 emotional maturity required for each activ- 

 ity, and the special rewards and satisfactions 

 that the men receive. Such an analysis 

 should not be limited to the submarine sit- 

 uation of the present, but also should be 

 oriented in terms of future conditions, such 

 as the effect of longer periods submerged and 

 other changes resulting from mechanical im- 

 provements. 



Selection and Placement to Avoid Emo- 

 tional Stress 



If a completely adequate description of 

 the submarine situation were available, it 

 should be possible to deduce the essential 

 characteristics of men who would adjust as 

 submariners with minimal emotional stress. 

 That is to say, men should be selected for 

 submarine duty whose objective qualifica- 

 tions, potentialities for adaptation, conscious 

 and unconscious needs, motivational pat- 

 terns, and identifications are optimally satis- 

 fied by the demands and satisfactions 

 provided by life aboard a submarine. To 

 take an oversimplified example: if the situa- 

 tion required that a man possess an IQ of 

 about 120, be about 20 years old, have strong 

 latent aggressive tendencies, a desire for 

 close, protected quarters, and a strong need 

 for group support, then men filling these 

 qualifications, and who possess the necessary 

 skills, should be most likely to adjust satis- 

 factorily as submariners. However, a per- 

 son with a need to express his aggressive 

 tendencies by independent action, and who 

 felt anxious in close quarters, probably would 

 be dissatisfied and ineffective as a submari- 

 ner, even though he met all the other quali- 



fications. He might, however, become an 

 excehent fighter pilot. 



In an attempt to gain some insight into 

 the character structure and dominant under- 

 lying motivation patterns of submariners, a 

 modified Thematic Apperception Test was 

 administered to a group of men who had 

 been on several war patrols, who liked their 

 life aboard submarines, and who had ad- 

 justed successfully to it.^ From a prelimi- 

 narj- analysis of the stories to 10 pictures, 

 some of the characteristic latent tendencies 

 that appeared included: a need for change in 

 the environment in order to be happy; an 

 acceptance of the status quo, with no strong 

 need to strive for and achieve great things; 

 a superficial need for independence, with a 

 deeper dependence on outside support; fre- 

 quent unresolved conflict, ambivalence, or 

 fluctuation of aggressive and sexual drives; 

 and a reliance on external stimulation to 

 determine their thoughts, which tend to be 

 specific and concrete rather than elaborate 

 and abstract. It is possible that the uni- 

 versality of these motivational patterns will 

 not be substantiated by future research with 

 submariners; but even so, it is not difficult 

 to see how these tendencies go hand in hand 

 with the requirements of life aboard a sub- 

 marine. 



It is often implicitly (and mistakenly) 

 assumed that there is a universal or ideal 

 pattern of adjustment, and that deviations 

 from it are indicative of some form of malad- 

 justment. A more nearly correct and prac- 

 ticable approach is to be concerned with the 

 particular requirements and gratifications of 

 a given situation, the corresponding motiva- 

 tional patterns of individuals who must ad- 

 just to it, and the proper "fit" of the two. 

 Furthermore, if specific motivational pat- 

 terns can be established as being generally 

 common to successful submariners, it is im- 

 portant that they be appraised in non-value 

 terms, and not as being either "good" or 



* Approximately 200 stories were recorded by 

 the author at the Mare Island Naval Base. 



