Morale

Morale (/məˈræl/ mə-RAL, UK also /-ˈrɑːl/ -⁠RAHL) is the capacity of a group's members to maintain belief in an institution or goal, particularly in the face of opposition or hardship. Morale is often referenced by authority figures as a generic value judgment of the willpower, obedience, and self-discipline of a group tasked with performing duties assigned by a superior. According to Alexander H. Leighton, "morale is the capacity of a group of people to pull together persistently and consistently in pursuit of a common purpose". With good morale, a force will be less likely to give up or surrender. Morale is usually assessed at a collective, rather than an individual level. In wartime, civilian morale is also important.

Military history experts have not agreed on a precise definition of "morale". Clausewitz's comments on the subject have been described as "deliberately vague" by modern scholars. George Francis Robert Henderson, a widely read military author of the pre-World War I era, viewed morale as related to the instinct of self-preservation, the suppression of which he said was "the moral fear of turning back", in other words, that a willingness to fight was bolstered by a strong sense of duty. Henderson wrote:

During the proceedings of the Southborough Committee inquiry concerning shellshock, testimony by Colonel J. F. C. Fuller defined morale as "the acquired quality which in highly-trained troops counterbalances the influence of the instinct of self-preservation." Of Henderson's "moral fear", the soldier's sense of duty, it is contrasted with the fear of death, and to control one's troops required of a commander more than authoritarian force, but other strategies to be deployed to that purpose.

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In military science, there are two meanings to morale: individual perseverance and unit cohesion. Morale is often highly dependent on soldier effectiveness, health, comfort, safety, and belief-in-purpose, and therefore an army with good supply lines, sound air cover, and a clear objective will typically possess, as a whole, better morale than one without. "Will to fight" is the single most important factor in war. Will to fight helps determine whether a military unit stays in the fight and also how well it fights.

Historically, elite military units such as special operations forces have "high morale" due to their training and pride in their unit. When a unit's morale is said to be "depleted", it means it is close to "crack and surrender". It is well worth noting that generally speaking, most commanders do not look at the morale of specific individuals but rather the "fighting spirit" of squadrons, divisions, battalions, ships, etc.

In August 2012, an article entitled "Army morale declines in survey" states that "only a quarter of the [US] Army's officers and enlisted soldiers believe the nation's largest military branch is headed in the right direction." The "... most common reasons cited for the bleak outlook were "ineffective leaders at senior levels," a fear of losing the best and the brightest after a decade of war, and the perception, especially among senior enlisted soldiers, that "the Army is too soft" and lacks sufficient discipline."

Employee morale is proven to have a direct effect on productivity; it is one of the cornerstones of business.

• Military psychology
• Collective identity
• Committee for National Morale
• Demoralization (warfare)
• Information warfare
• Motivation
• Pre-work assembly
• Psychological warfare
• Rank theory of depression

• Matteo Ermacora: Civilian Morale, in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War.
• Adi Sherzer & Samuel Boumendil, The Morale Component of the Russia–Ukraine War, in: Uzi Ben-Shalom & others (eds.), Military Heroism in a Post-Heroic Era (Springer, 2024).