Research Program Objectives

The Department of Defense has clearly identified enhancing satisfaction, retention, and readiness as important goals for the armed services. Our objective is to conduct basic and applied research on the way quality-of-life impacts these important outcomes. Our research objectives are threefold:

1. We strive to understand these three basic measures by examining existing theory and research and conducting original research. We aim to develop valid, detailed models of the processes which drive performance, retention, and satisfaction.
2. We strive to use these process models as a road map to guide research and policy decisions on the way quality-of-life factors influences these three critical outcomes.
3. We aim to link these processes to elements of quality-of-life so that a full, mediated, and dynamic understanding of the relationships among non-work experiences and work outcomes can be developed.

The separation of the microprocesses into the three domains of performance, retention, and satisfaction is deliberate and consistent with current thinking on work behaviors and outcomes.