Sundeep Kumar, Manish Kumar Verma
Lovely Professional University, Punjab
The Armed Forces require young and physically and mentally strong soldiers to win wars. Therefore, about 60000 soldiers from the Indian Armed Forces retire every year (Ministry of Defence, 2020, p-166), called Ex-Servicemen (ESM) or Veterans in general. In the context of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in particular, these ESMs are called ‘Air Veterans’. The IAF, in cooperation with the other branches of the country’s armed forces, is responsible for safeguarding the national airspace. This study aims to examine the role of psychological well-being in Air Veteran adjustment in India. In this study, 150 Air Veterans across the country participated as a sample and their age, sex and education levels were matched. A purposive sampling method was used for data collection. For this study the behaviour tools used were (i) Psychological Well-being (PWB) scale and (ii) Personal Adjustment Inventory (PAI). Statistical tools were used for data management like the mean and SD were calculated, Pearson’s Correlation was used to explore the relations between domains of PWB and PAI. Thereafter, stepwise multiple regressions were conducted for ascertaining the predictors of Air Veteran’s adjustment (outcome variable). The results from the correlation analysis showed a statistically significant and negative correlation between the adjustment level of Air Veterans with all the domains of PWB i.e., Autonomy, Environmental Mastery, Personal Growth, Positive Relations with Others, Purpose in Life and Self-Acceptance including the overall Psychological Well-Being at p < 0.01. This implies a higher level of PWB among Air Veterans which is an indicator of lower adjustment-related difficulties and vice versa. The result is found in consistent with a previous research study (Eshan, 2011). In the domain of stepwise regression analysis, two main predictors of adjustment were reported viz. (i) Positive Relations with Others and (ii) Environmental Mastery. Based on the findings, it was recommended that PWB plays an important role in the lives of Air Veterans for a better adjustment to the civil society after their retirement.
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