Background. Russian military psychology is actively analyzing the achievements gained over the years of its reform and with great interest turns to the military psychological experience of foreign armies. Acquaintance with this experience allows Russian military psychology to assess its place in the world military psychological science, to assess the dynamics and fidelity of the general direction of development. In this regard, it is quite interesting to get acquainted with the state, capabilities, and the most important guidelines for the development of the Chinese military psychology.
Objective. The objective of this paper is to get acquainted with the invaluable experience of trial and error, ups and downs, stagnation and real breakthroughs, which can be learnt through getting acquainted with the history and modern functioning of the psychological structures of the Chinese army.
Design. The paper considers the centuries-old history and a modern condition of military psychology in China. The methodological foundations of the Chinese military psychology are proved to be the philosophical ideas of Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism. Theoretical sources Chinese military psychology is rooted in the writings of the great thinkers and generals of ancient China – Sun Tzu, Wu Tzu, Zhuge Liang. The two most vigorously developing areas of military psychology: the psychological selection of military personnel, theory and practice of psychological warfare. The historical analysis of traditions and technologies development for the period of four thousand years is given. The development of psychological selection in the army of China was affected by cooperation with the American psychologists during the Second World War. The overall state and program approach to perfect the system of selecting military men using the psychology methods is underlined. Historical development tendencies and the Chinese paradigm of the theory and practice of psychological war are analyzed. Psychological war is considered as a component of an information psychological antagonism, along with legal and media-wars. Such types of psychological war as operation-coercion, operation-deceit, operation-dissociation, operation-defense are identified. Methods of psychological war are highlighted. The general review of other trends of military psychological research is given: studying combat influence on soldier mental condition, stress resistance, post combat frustration and posttraumatic growth; collaborating on methods of psychological training and psychological resilience in military men; studying psychological aspects of «man-technics» system, etc.
Results. To conclude, the Chinese military psychology is becoming an essential creative force in the PLA’s combat preparedness system and its experience is worthy of careful and in-depth study.
PDF: Download
Keywords: military psychology; psychology in China; psychological selection; psychological testing; psychological war; psychological preparation; psychological stability;
Available Online 01.01.2018
Abhijit, Singh (2013) China’s ‘Three Warfares’ and India. Journal of Defence Studies, 7(4), October-December, 27–46.
Avramenko, A., & Starunsky, A. (2005) Psychological Operations of the People’s Liberation Army of China. [Zarubezhnoe voennoe obozrenie], 4, 14–19.
Buxin, Han, & Kan, Zhang. Retrieved from: https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-20/edition-12/psychology-china (accessed: 11.01.2017).
Clausewitz, K. von (2002) About war. In 2 vols. Vol. 1. Moscow, AST; St. Petersburg: Terra Fantastica.
Chen, C.X., Xu, L.L., Zhang, L.L., Shi, J.A., Wang, J.L., You, M. & et al. (2010) CMMHS’ application in screening psychological diseases among new military recruits. Renmin Junyi. 53(4), 243–244.
Cheng Dean (2012) Winning without Fighting: Chinese Public Opinion Warfare and the Need for a Robust American Response. The Heritage Foundation, 26 November 2012. Retrieved from: http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/11, (accessed: 15 June 2013).
(2006) Chinese People’s Liberation Army adds psychological test to recruitment process. Retrieved from: http://www.wri-irg.org/node/947 (accessed: 11.01.2017).
(2016) Experience in conducting professional psychological selection of candidates for military service under a contract in the armies of foreign states and law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation: a scientific collection. Moscow.
Gregory, R. J. (2004) Psychological testing: History, principles, and applications. Needham Heights, MA, Allyn & Bacon. xxv 694, 4.
Halper, Stefan (prof., University of Cambridge) (2014) China: The three Warfares. For Andy Marshall director, office of net assessment office of the secretary of defense Washington, D.C. Retrieved from: https://cryptome.org/2014/06/prc-three-wars.pdf
Huang P., Zhang T., Miao D., & Zhu X. (2014) Acute stress responses in Chinese soldiers performing various military tasks. 20 November 2014. International Journal of Mental Health Systems. doi:10.1186/1752-4458-8-45
Institute of psychological warfare of the PLA. [Voenno-uchebnye zavedeniya po podgotovke kadrov dlya rodov voysk i drugie voenno-uchebnye zavedeniya Kitaya]. Abirus. Retrieved from: http://www.abirus.ru/content/564/623/631/11311/11323.html - (accessed: 15.10.2017).
Johnson, Matthew D. (2011) Propaganda and Sovereignty in Wartime, China: Morale Operations and Psychological Warfare under the Office of War Information. Modern Asian Studies, 45(2), 303–04. doi: 10.1017/S0026749X11000023
Karayani, A.G., & Volobueva, Yu.M. (2007) Military psychology as a field of special scientific knowledge and practice. [Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta]. Series 14. Psychology, 4, 20–33.
Karayani, A.G., Karayani, Yu.M., & Zinchenko, Yu.P. (2014) American military psychology as a field of special practice. National psychological journal, 1, 63–71. doi: 10.11621/npj.2014.0107
Karayani, A.G. (2016) Military psychology. Part 1. Moscow, Yurayt.
Karayani, A.G. (2015) The power of weakness: review of the book by Mark Neville and Jamie Hacker Hughes “Battle against stigma”. Psychology in Russia: State of Art, 8(3),157–160. doi: 10.11621/pir.2015.0312
Lei, Shi, Yongju, Yu, Li, Peng, Botao, Liu, Yi, Miao, Min, Li, & Xue Lv. (2015) Posttraumatic Growth in Fresh Medical Cadets after Military Training and its Influencing Factors. J Psychiatry, 18, 3.
Liu, Hongsong (1986) Military psychology. Beijing.
(2014) Mental Health of Chinese Peacekeepers in Liberia. Eur. J. Psychiat, 28(2). Zaragoza abr./jun. Retrieved from: http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0213-61632014000200001&lng=es&nrm=iso. (accessed: 11.01.2017).
Messner, E.E. (2005) If you want peace, defeat the mutiny! Moscow.
Miao, Danming, Luo, Zhengxue, Liu, Xufeng, Li, Yunbo, Wang, Jingsheng, & Su, Jinkuan (2006) Predictive Research on Psychological Selection of Cadets in Military Academy (Article written in Chinese). Acta Psychologica Sinic, 38(2), 308-316. Retrieved from: http://www.fed.cuhk.edu.hk/ceric/aps/200600380002/0308.htm (accessed: 11.01.2017).
Miao Y, Feng GJ, Li M, Chu Q, Zhi L, et al. (2010) Resilience in China recruits and its influencing factors. Chin J Behav Med & Brain Sci, 19, 1105–1107.
Nyyazbekova, K.S. The system of higher education in China: psychology Retrieved from: http://www.rusnauka.com/3_ANR_2013/Pedagogica/2_126077.doc.htm/ (accessed: 15.10.2017).
Peng, L, Zhang, JJ, Li M, Li, PP, & Zhang Y, et al. (2012) Negative life events and mental health of Chinese medical students: The effect of resilience, personality and social support. Psychiatr Res, 196, 138–141. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2011.12.006
Peng, L, Li, M, Zuo X, Miao, Y, & Chen, L, et al. (2014) Application of the Pennsylvania resilience training program on medical students. Personal and Ind Differ, 62, 47–51. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2014.01.006
Shi, L, Chen, L, Bi, JY, Li, M, & Qian, JJ, et al. (2013) Resilience of Students and Life Adaptation in Military University (In Chinese). China Journal of Health Psychology, 8, 1272–1274.
Shi Mintsen, & Li Qingyang (Eds.) (1986) Introduction to the study of military social psychology. [Materialy Pervoy nauchnoy konferentsii po problemam voennoy psikhologii]. Shenyang.
Sun, Tzu (2003) A treatise on military art. [Sun’-tszy: Iskusstvo voyny. Strategi i taktika pobeditelya]. Moscow, Eksmo; St. Petersburg, Terra Fantastica, 8–43.
Timothy, L. Thomas. New Developments in Chinese Strategic Psychological Warfare. Retrieved from: http://www.iwar.org.uk/psyops/resources/china/chinesepsyop.pdf. http://www.fed.cuhk.edu.hk/ceric/aps/200600380002/0308.htm
U, Tzu (2003) A treatise on military art. [Sun’-tszy: Iskusstvo voyny. Strategiya i taktika pobeditelya]. Moscow, Eksmo; St. Petersburg, Terra Fantastica, 425–455.
Chen, Jian, & Wang Weiping (1986) The fundamentals of military psychology. Beijing.
Veraksa A.N., Leonov S.V. (2016). The Congress of the Chinese Psychological Society. National Psychological Journal, 3, 34. doi: 10.11621/npj.2016.0406
Wen Xiantang (1986) Psychology of command and control. Beijing.
Xie, YR, Yu, YJ, Peng, L, Chen, L, & Li, JW, et al. (2013) Posttraumatic growth and related factors in new recruits after first training (J) (In Chinese). J Third Mil Med Univer, 35, 2088–2091.
Xue, C, Ge, Y, Tang, B, Liu, Y, Kang, P, & Wang, M, et al. (2015) A Meta-Analysis of Risk Factors for Combat-Related PTSD among Military Personnel and Veterans. PLoS ONE 10(3): e0120270. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0120270
Yan, J, Wang, L.J, Chen, Q, Miao, DM, & Zhang, LY, et al. (2008) Estimated mental health and analysis of relative factors for new Chinese recruits. Mil Med, 173, 1031–1034. doi: 10.7205/MILMED.173.10.1031
Yang, Z, Cao, F, Lu, H, Zhu, X, & Miao, D. (2014) Changes of anxiety in Chinese military personnels over time: a cross-temporal meta-analysis. Int J Ment Heal Syst., 8, 19–10.
Yuanjun, Xie, Li, Peng, Xin, Zuo, & Min, Li (2016) The Psychometric Evaluation of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale Using a Chinese Military Sample. Retrieved form: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0148843.
Yan, Shu-Chang, Chen, Jing, Zhang, Hong-Mei, & Siegen K. (2012) Chou’s Military Psychological Practices and Thoughts During the War of Resistance Against Japan(J). Acta Psychologica Sinica, 44(11), 1554–1562.
Yan, S. C. Collaboration Between Chinese and American Psychologists on Assessing Intelligence Paratroop Commandos During the Second Sino- Japanese War (in Chinese). The Chinese Journal for the History of Science and Technology, 36(3), 355–363.
Zhang, LY, Wang, YH, Zhou, XD, Lin, H, Liu, YY, & Xu, ZX, et al. (2011) Establishment of the norm for Chinese Military Personnel Mental Disorder Prediction Scale. Jiefangjun Yixue Zazhi, 36(11), 1220–1222.
Zhang LY, Wang YZ, Shi JA, Chen C, Li N, Zhang SY. (2007) Reliability and validity analysis of the Chinese Military Mental Health Scale. Renmin Junyi, 50(11), 662–663.
Zheng-Xue, Luo, Kan, Shi, Wen-Dong, Li, & Dan-Min, Miao (2008) Construct of job performance: Evidence from Chinese military soldiers. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 11, 222–231. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-839X.2008.00261.x
Zhipeng, Gao, Bo, Wang (2014) Chinese Psychology. Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology. Springer New York, 221–227.Karayani A.G. (2017). History of development and modern condition of modern Chinese military psychology. National Psychological Journal, 4, 83–94