Since 1954, the Norwegian Armed Forces have annually administered an unchanged general mental ability test to male cohorts, comprising figure matrices, word similarities, and mathematical reasoning tests. These stable and representative data have supported various claims about shifts in general mental ability (GMA) levels, notably the Flynn effect and its reversal, influencing extensive research linking these scores with health and other outcomes. This study examines whether observed temporal trends in scores reflect changes in latent intelligence or are confounded by evolving test characteristics and specific test-taking abilities in numerical reasoning, word comprehension, and figure matrices reasoning. Our findings, using multiple-group factor analysis and multiple indicator multiple cause (MIMIC) models, indicate that while there was a general upward trend in observed scores until 1993, this was predominantly driven by enhancements in the fluid intelligence task, specifically figure matrices reasoning. Notably, these gains do not uniformly translate to a rise in underlying GMA, suggesting the presence of domain-specific improvements and test characteristic changes over time. Conversely, the observed decline is primarily due to decreases in word comprehension and numerical reasoning tests, also reflecting specific abilities not attributable to changes in the latent GMA factor. Our findings further challenge the validity of claims that changes in the general factor drive the Flynn effect and its reversal. Furthermore, they caution against using these scores for longitudinal studies without accounting for changes in test characteristics.
Norrøne, Tore Nøttestad & Nordmo, Morten (2025)
Comparing Proctored and Unproctored Cognitive Ability Testing in High-Stakes Personnel Selection
The positive relation between mental health and educational attainment is well established, yet the extent to which cognitive abilities influence this gradient or independently predict mental health outcomes remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the association between adolescent cognitive abilities, educational attainment, and adult mental health. Cognitive ability was ascertained in Norwegian military conscript test data (N = 272,351; mean age 17.8 years; males only), whereas mental disorders were ascertained using the Norwegian register of primary care diagnoses received between the age of 36–40. Higher cognitive abilities were associated with a monotonically decreasing risk of developing all the studied mental disorders except bipolar disorder. The association held even when comparing the cognitive abilities of brothers raised in the same family, attesting that cognitive ability and mental disorders are not associated because both arise from the same family background circumstances. Similarly, individuals with higher educational attainment had fewer mental health disorders. The association between low cognitive abilities and the risk of mental disorders was notably stronger in males with low educational attainment, compared to those with high educational attainment. These individuals may be an underutilized target group for mental-disorder prevention.
Nordmo, Magnus; Sunde, Hans Fredrik, Kleppestø, Thomas Haarklau, Nordmo, Morten, Caspi, Avshalom, Moffitt, Terrie E. & Torvik, Fartein Ask (2024)
Cognitive Abilities and Educational Attainment as Antecedents of Mental Disorders: A Total Population Study of Males
There is a growing concern that the mental health of adolescents is worsening and that this deterioration may influence adolescents’ willingness and ability to complete military service. The purpose of this study is to investigate yearly relationships between self-reported mental health indicators and motivation for military service. To accomplish this, nationwide yearly percentile records from repeated cross-sectional records of Norwegian cohorts (N = 891,600) collected from 2009 to 2022 were evaluated. The results show that the number of adolescents with self-reported mental health diagnoses increased every year for both males and females. Well-being and coping decreased over time for females (but not males), although absolute levels were high throughout the study period. Despite evidence of worsening mental health and well-being, self-described motivation and aptitude for military service were largely stable over time for both genders. The negative trends in mental health are not associated with functional consequences for adolescents’ motivation and aptitude to complete military service.
Nordmo, Morten; Norrøne, Tore Nøttestad, Nikolaisen, Kristian & Svarstad, Daniel (2024)
Examining the roots of turnover intentions in the Royal Norwegian Navy, the role of embeddedness, work-life conflict and predictability
Retaining qualified personnel is a priority for armed forces, and turnover presents a serious problem. This study uses job embeddedness theory to investigate embeddedness factors, predictability and work–life conflict as predictors of turnover intentions in commissioned officers (COs) and non-commissioned officers (NCOs) in the Royal Norwegian Navy. The study posits that career prospects, community fit, organisational fit and organisational links embed personnel and are associated with a reduction in turnover intentions. In addition, the study proposes a mechanism whereby personnel who experience a predictable work schedule have better work–life balance and subsequently lower turnover intentions. Predictability in turn is hypothesised to be associated with the possibility of flexible hours. Using structural equation modelling, we find that embeddedness factors predicted turnover intentions for both personnel categories, but career prospects were the only significant embeddedness factor for NCOs. Predictability was associated with a reduction in turnover intentions via work–life conflict for both groups. In addition, flexible hours showed an effect on work–life conflict for both groups, but through different mechanisms. Overall, the results point to differential actions to reduce turnover between COs and NCOs in the armed forces and conclude with a priority list for actions to reduce turnover in each personnel group.
Comparison between the brief seven-item and full eating disorder examination-questionnaire (EDE-Q) in clinical and non-clinical female Norwegian samples
The Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire (EDE-Q) is a widely used self-report measure to assess eating disorder symptoms in clinical and research settings. One limitation of the EDE-Q is its length (28 questions), which can preclude its use in research studies where assessments need to be short. A brief seven-question version has been proposed (referred to as the EDE-Q7), but few studies have evaluated its usefulness in comparison to the full EDE-Q. In our study we aimed to provide a comparison between the brief EDE-Q7 and the full EDE-Q among female Norwegian patients and non-patients. The brief EDE-Q7 produced similar responses compared to the full EDE-Q and performed well in tests of its integrity as a measure. Our findings suggest that the EDE-Q7 may serve as a viable alternative to the full EDE-Q for brief assessment and screening purposes.
This study draws on the conservation of resources theory to investigate the relationship between burnout (disengage-ment and emotional exhaustion) and subjective career suc-cess (SCS) through career insecurity over time. It also aims to shed light on the role of the occupational future time per-spective (i.e., remaining opportunities and remaining time) as a personal resource that may moderate the direct and in-direct relationship between burnout and SCS through career insecurity. A total of 362 full-time working individuals par-ticipated in the survey, which was administered at two time points, 9 months apart. The results from the cross-lagged analysis suggested a bidirectional relationship between dis-engagement and SCS; however, emotional exhaustion did not predict SCS across time. Career insecurity mediated the cross-lagged relationship between burnout and SCS. Finally, the findings showed that the negative cross-lagged relation-ship between disengagement and SCS was moderated by remaining opportunities, such that the relationship was stronger for individuals low on remaining opportunities. The negative cross-lagged relationship between emotional exhaustion and SCS was moderated by remaining time, such that the relationship was stronger for individuals low on the remaining time. Implications for practice and future research directions are discussed
Nordmo, Morten; Sørlie, Henrik, Lang-Ree, Ole Christian & Fosse, Thomas Hol (2022)
Decomposing the effect of hardiness in military leadership selection and the mediating role of self-efficacy beliefs
Psychological hardiness is a set of personality characteristics that is linked to better health, performance, and leadership in demanding environments. Research indicates that candidates who score high on hardiness have an advantage during military leadership selection. In this study, we deconstruct the effect of hardiness into three separate measures of leadership performance: interview performance, field performance, and the probability of voluntary withdrawal from a challenging field exercise. Additionally, we hypothesize that the dispositional effect of hardiness is partly due to an indirect effect of contextual self-efficacy beliefs regarding military leadership ability. We test our hypotheses in a sample of candidates seeking admission to officer training in the Norwegian Armed Forces during a three-week selection process. The results confirm that hardiness was associated with successful admission and showed that hardy candidates scored somewhat higher on the interview and field exercises and were notably less likely to drop out of the field exercise. Using generalized structural equation modeling and mediation analysis, we find that the effect is partly mediated by self-efficacy beliefs, but the direct effect of hardiness is more pronounced than the indirect effect of self-efficacy. Overall, the results add to the growing body of hardiness as a predictor of military leadership performance and shows that this advantage is partly, but not primarily associated with contextual self-efficacy beliefs.
Nordmo, Morten; Skoglund, Tom Hilding, Lang-Ree, Ole Christian, Austad, Sara Kasia & Martinussen, Monica (2021)
The psychometric properties and norm data of the Norwegian military personality inventory (NMPI)
The five-factor structure is a well-established model for personality. The five traits covary with job-performance and work-relevant outcomes. The practical administration of existing big-five measurement scales is, however, somewhat limited, in a Norwegian setting, as existing scales are impractically large or have unknown psychometric properties. Because of this, a new brief Norwegian personality assessment tool has been developed by the Norwegian Armed Forces. This study aims to uncover the psychometric properties of the 50-item Norwegian military personality inventory (NMPI-50) and establish norm data for practical use. The inventory was administered to the 2002 cohort of Norwegian 17-year olds (<i>N</i> = 54,355), and analyzed with factor analysis, graded response models and tests of gender invariance. The five scales of the NMPI-50 showed satisfactory internal consistency, yielded high information across a broad range of the five traits, and conformed to a bi-factor structure with one general factor and five specific factors. The general factor was positively associated with motivation for military service, indicating some measurement bias. The openness scale is less clearly psychometrically defined, compared to the other scales, and both extroversion and openness show some evidence of multidimensionality. The scales also showed scalar invariance between genders except for the openness scale. Overall, the results support the use of NMPI-50 in personnel assessment and research.
Physical and emotional intimacy between humans and robots may become commonplace over the next decades, as technology improves at a rapid rate. This development provides new questions pertaining to how people perceive robots designed for different kinds of intimacy, both as companions and potentially as competitors. We performed a randomized experiment where participants read of either a robot that could only perform sexual acts, or only engage in non-sexual platonic love relationships. The results of the current study show that females have less positive views of robots, and especially of sex robots, compared to men. Contrary to the expectation rooted in evolutionary psychology, females expected to feel more jealousy if their partner got a sex robot, rather than a platonic love robot. The results further suggests that people project their own feelings about robots onto their partner, erroneously expecting their partner to react as they would to the thought of ones’ partner having a robot.
A hardy disposition is regarded as an advantage in demanding and stressful environments and is associated with improved military performance. Recent evidence suggests that hardiness may also be related to resilience with respect to sleep disturbances. The aim of the present study is to investigate the moderating role of hardiness in the sleep quality – job performance relationship in a sample of naval cadets during a demanding training exercise. We hypothesize that (1) Hardiness positively influences daily job performance, (2) daily sleep quality positively influences daily job performance, and (3) Hardiness buffers the impact of poor daily sleep quality on daily job performance. A sample of 56 naval cadets first filled in a general questionnaire, and then filled in a daily diary assessing sleep quality during a 30-day training mission across the Atlantic Ocean. Daily job performance was assessed by using peer-ratings. Results of multi-level analyses showed a positive main effect of hardiness on job performance. Hardiness also moderated the sleep quality – job performance relationship. Cadets high (vs. low) on dispositional hardiness were less affected by poor sleep quality, also after controlling for neuroticism. The results suggest that hardiness moderates the effect of poor sleep quality on job performance.
Nordmo, Morten; Danielsen, Yngvild Sørebø & Nordmo, Magnus (2019)
The challenge of keeping it off, a descriptive systematic review of high-quality, follow-up studies of obesity treatments.
The aim of this systematic review is to answer the question: Is substantial, stable, and long‐term weight loss a viable goal for adults with obesity? To answer this question, we conducted a broad systematic search of non‐surgical and non‐pharmacological obesity treatment studies with the following strict criteria: (a) minimum 3‐year follow‐up, (b) 5% body mass lost, (c) no continued interventions in the follow‐up‐period, (d) prospective design, and (e) less than 30% attrition from the start of the follow‐up period. While the search revealed a very large number of published articles, only eight studies met the inclusion criteria. Several of the nonincluded studies report a majority of participants achieving satisfactory weight loss and little regain, especially among studies with continued interventions during the follow‐up period. In contrast, the eight high‐quality studies included in this study demonstrate a trend of weight regain towards pretreatment baseline. This review concludes that the majority of high‐quality follow‐up treatment studies of individuals with obesity are not successful in maintaining weight loss over time. The results suggest that excess weight can be lost but is likely regained over time, for the majority of participants.
Nordmo, Morten; Olsen, Olav Kjellevold, Hetland, Jørn, Espevik, Roar, bakker, arnold bastiaan & Pallesen, Ståle (2019)
Daily sleep quality and naval work performance: the role of leadership
Background:
Poor sleep is a growing concern in naval settings. Previous research has demonstrated that both civilian and military naval work strains sleep quality as well as a negative relationship between sleep quality and crew work performance. Variables moderating this relationship, such as leadership are of interest.
Materials and methods:
The present paper investigates how sailors’ daily variations in sleep quality influence self-rated naval work-performance and interacts with perceived daily transformational leadership during a 30-day naval training mission.
Results:
Using multi-level analysis, we found significant positive main effects of sleep quality and transformational leadership on naval work performance. Transformational leadership moderated the sleep quality-work performance link. Individuals who experienced higher levels of leadership were less prone to reductions in performance after poor sleep.
Conclusions:
Overall, the results suggest that leadership can partly negate some of the reduction in performance that often accompanies poor sleep, and that leadership becomes more important as the crew becomes sleepier
How changing admission practices affect sociodemographics, satisfaction, personality, gender, and dropout of students in the professional psychologist study program in Norway :
The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of fragmented sleep on followers’ leadership preferences. In a counterbalanced experimental study involving 39 followers, changes in leadership preferences were recorded after one night of fragmented sleep (awakened every 80 min during the night), compared to a rested condition with the conditions separated by seven nights. The results showed that the participants rated passive-avoidant leadership less ideal, after one night of fragmented sleep. No differences regarding preference for transactional or transformational leadership occurred. Thus, negative perceptions of leaders may partly stem from reduced sleep patterns. However, further studies are needed to confirm this finding.
Pallesen, Ståle; Olsen, Olav Kjellevold, Eide, Elisabeth Mong, Nortvedt, Benedicte, Grønli, Janne, Larøi, Frank, Nordmo, Morten & Glomlien, Fride E. (2018)
Sleep deprivation and hallucinations. A qualitative study of military personnel.
