Personality traits, coping styles, and perceived stress across polish military formations and a civilian comparison group
5 affiliations
- 1Department of Medical Communication and Professional Competency Development, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rzeszów
- 2Faculty of Health Sciences and Psychology, Medical College, University of Rzeszów
- 3Student Research Club “Reh-Tech”, Collegium Medicum, University of Rzeszów
- 4Faculty of Physical Culture Sciences, Medical College of Rzeszów University
- 5Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Metabolomics, Faculty of Medicine, Medical College of Rzeszów University
Abstract
This cross-sectional study examined differences in personality traits, coping styles, and perceived stress across three Polish military formations and a civilian comparison group, and associations of personality traits and coping styles with perceived stress. The sample comprised 193 men: 37 Special Forces soldiers, 54 Regular Army soldiers, 48 Territorial Defence Forces (WOT) soldiers, and 54 civilIians without military service experience. Participants completed the NEO-FFI Personality Inventory, the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS), and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10). The groups differed in selected personality traits, coping styles, and perceived stress. Mean PSS-10 scores were 11.16 in Special Forces, 16.04 in civilians, 15.31 in the Regular Army, and 14.98 in WOT. Special Forces soldiers showed higher conscientiousness than all other groups, lower neuroticism than civilians, and more frequent task-oriented coping than civilians. Neuroticism ( r = 0.59) and emotion-oriented coping ( r = 0.60) showed the strongest positive bivariate associations with perceived stress within their respective domains. The findings describe differences between the sampled groups rather than a uniform military–civilian distinction. They do not establish effects of selection, training, or operational experience. Incomplete demographic and occupational characterization limits between-group interpretation. Longitudinal studies with better-characterized comparison groups are needed to examine the implications of these associations for stress-management support.
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BibTeX
@article{kopanska2026personality,
title = {{Personality traits, coping styles, and perceived stress across polish military formations and a civilian comparison group}},
author = {Marta Kopańska and Danuta Ochojska and Patrycja Leśnicka and Izabela Sarzyńska and Krzysztof Przednowek and Rafał Podgórski},
journal = {Frontiers in Public Health},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fpubh.2026.1890043},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1890043/full},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Personality traits, coping styles, and perceived stress across polish military formations and a civilian comparison group
AU - Marta Kopańska
AU - Danuta Ochojska
AU - Patrycja Leśnicka
AU - Izabela Sarzyńska
AU - Krzysztof Przednowek
AU - Rafał Podgórski
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/08
JO - Frontiers in Public Health
DO - 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1890043
UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1890043/full
AB - This cross-sectional study examined differences in personality traits, coping styles, and perceived stress across three Polish military formations and a civilian comparison group, and associations of personality traits and coping styles with perceived stress. The sample comprised 193 men: 37 Special Forces soldiers, 54 Regular Army soldiers, 48 Territorial Defence Forces (WOT) soldiers, and 54 civilIians without military service experience. Participants completed the NEO-FFI Personality Inventory, the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS), and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10). The groups differed in selected personality traits, coping styles, and perceived stress. Mean PSS-10 scores were 11.16 in Special Forces, 16.04 in civilians, 15.31 in the Regular Army, and 14.98 in WOT. Special Forces soldiers showed higher conscientiousness than all other groups, lower neuroticism than civilians, and more frequent task-oriented coping than civilians. Neuroticism ( r = 0.59) and emotion-oriented coping ( r = 0.60) showed the strongest positive bivariate associations with perceived stress within their respective domains. The findings describe differences between the sampled groups rather than a uniform military–civilian distinction. They do not establish effects of selection, training, or operational experience. Incomplete demographic and occupational characterization limits between-group interpretation. Longitudinal studies with better-characterized comparison groups are needed to examine the implications of these associations for stress-management support.
SN - 2296-2565
ER -