History of development and modern condition of Chinese military psychology

• Main Author: Aleksandr G. Karayani
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: Lomonosov Moscow State University 2017-12-01
• Series: Nacionalʹnyj Psihologičeskij Žurnal
• Subjects: military psychology; psychology in China; psychological selection; psychological testing; psychological war; psychological training; psychological resilience
• Online Access: http://npsyj.ru/pdf/npj-no28-2017/npj_no28_2017_083-094.pdf

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.