” The Impact of Singlehood on Workplace Experiences and Well-being for U.S Army Officers
Open Access Deposited“I am an Army of One
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Existing research on the experiences and wellbeing of military service members is often limited to exploring the social dynamics of military families—such as frequent moves, separations, and network disruptions—ignoring the experiences of single service members. Drawing on social identity theory, work/family border theory and greedy institutions theory, I explore how single Army officers perceive the impact of their non-married status at work and how it affects their well-being. Using thematic analysis of 25 in-depth interviews, I find that single officers experienced differential treatment in the workplace including prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination compared to married counterparts—including being sent to more austere duty stations with fewer resources, being placed on holiday shifts over married officers, and rapid redeployments. Additionally, singles reported challenges coping with the demands of military life and difficulty maintaining a healthy work-life balance. This study is the first of its kind to investigate how the strain of military life uniquely impacts single service members with implications for military policies, such as redesigning duty station allocation, and cultural change amongst unit level leadership such as not favoring married couples for positions, locations, and time off. More broadly, this study advances our understanding of how ideal worker norms surrounding family status penalize those who fall outside the traditional mold.
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