Morale

Not to be confused with Moral or Morality.

For the Italian athlete, see Salvatore Morale.

"Esprit de corps" redirects here. For other uses, see Esprit de corps (disambiguation).

Morale (also known as esprit de corps) 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".

Military

In military science, there are two meanings to morale. Primarily it means unit cohesion, the cohesion of a unit, task force, or other military group. An army with good supply lines, sound air cover and a clear objective can be said to possess, as a whole, "good morale" or "high morale." Historically, elite military units such as special operations forces have "high morale" due to both 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", as was the case with Italian units in North Africa during World War II. 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 the workplace

Workplace events play a large part in changing employee morale, such as heavy layoffs, the cancelation of overtime, canceling benefits programs, and the lack of union representation. Other events can also influence workplace morale, such as sick building syndrome, low wages, and employees being mistreated.

See also

• Battle trance
• Collective identity
• Demoralization (warfare)
• Information warfare
• Motivation
• Pre-work assembly
• Psychological warfare