Factors effective on «group cohesion» and their relations with «aggression» and «suicide ideation» in conscript soldiers

Aims. The role of group cohesion in improving morale and performance of military forces has confirmed in investigations. On the other hand, aggression and suicide are common problems of these forces, especially in conscript soldiers due to their armed. Of course, aggression and suicide are not moment events and have been started of thought and followed to design and implement. In order to prevent the aggression and suicide ideation, must first the factors of their inhibition and facilitates be studied. The aim of this study was to evaluate the factors of group cohesion and their relation with aggression and suicidal ideation in conscript soldiers. Methods. This survey and applied research was performed in all conscript soldiers of one of the military forces and 237 soldiers were selected by categorized sampling method. The instruments were Siebold & Kelly group cohesion questionnaire, Huesmann, Miller & Zelli aggression questionnaire (revised version), Beck scale for suicide ideation (BSSI) and the researcher-made demographic questionnaire. Data was analyzed by Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regressions. Results. There was a significant correlation among group cohesion’s factors, aggression and suicide ideation, but they were not valid for predicting. Therefore, linear model had not a good fitness in multiple regressions. Conclusion. Group cohesion’s factors are not determinants in control of aggression and suicidal ideation.