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Shipboard Habitability in the U.S. Navy

2008; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 20; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/08995600701869585

1532-7876

Gerry L. Wilcove, Michael J. Schwerin,

Human-Automation Interaction and Safety

Studies of sailor quality of life (QOL) reveal that shipboard life is one among several work and non-work factors that help explain retention plans and behavior (Schwerin, Kline, Olmsted, & Wilcove, 2006 Schwerin, M. J., Kline, T. L., Olmsted, M. G. and Wilcove, G. L. 2006. Validation of a work/non-work life model of quality of life and retention among Navy personnel. Paper presented at the Center for Naval Analysis Workforce Research Conference. May2006, Falls Church, VA. [Google Scholar]; Wilcove, Schwerin, & Wolosin, 2003 Wilcove, G., Schwerin, M. J. and Wolosin, D. 2003. An exploratory model of quality of life in the U.S. Navy. Military Psychology, 15(2): 133–152. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The study of factors affecting satisfaction with shipboard life lacks serious exploration, with most of the research on shipboard habitability being conducted 25 years ago. In the present study, data from the 2002 Navy QOL Survey were analyzed to reveal the facets of shipboard habitability viewed as most and least satisfying, to create habitability subscales, and to apply those subscales in a multiple regression to better understand satisfaction with shipboard life. Results are related to the larger discipline of environmental psychology (Gifford, 2002 Gifford, R. 2002. Environmental psychology: Principles and practice , 3rd, British Columbia, , Canada: Optimal Books. [Google Scholar]). Implications of study findings on policy and research, study limitations, and recommendations for future research are discussed.