Making the best better: performance psychology integrated in special operation forces training
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Introduction: This study investigates how performance psychology was employed in conjunction with an operational combat squadron in NORSOF (Norwegian Special Operation Forces) whilst they were preparing for deployment. Access to this group allowed the research team to evaluate the contribution which a performance psychology package (PP) can make to an elite military unit with little or no previous exposure of such training. Methods: PP delivery during training. Data were collected through four stages of semi-structured, in-depth interviews with a significant time interval between each stage. Stage one occurred prior to the intervention-offering an informal baseline to understand what knowledge and skills the operators perceived in themselves; Stage two was conducted prior to deployment, after the unit's workup had finished. Stage three data was gathered upon the unit's return from deployment. Finally, as stage 4, an 18-month follow-up was conducted with key members of the unit. Results: Analyzed through Reflective Thematic Analysis, results indicate that the operators already held a high level of mental skills-likely a result of absorbing practices that are learned and developed in order to adapt successfully to their performance environment. Importantly, however, results also indicate that the additional structured PP intervention, integrated within the unit's workup training, increased perceived performance at both an individual and unit level. The follow-up supports the initial results. Discussion: Although SOF already are high performers and very good at what they do, our contention is that performance psychology could be a valuable and important concept to integrate and develop further.
Source: Frontiers in Psychology
Institutions: Norwegian Defence University College, University of Edinburgh
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,801
OpenAlex ID: W4408842583