Moral forces: interpreting ethical challenges in military operations

The studies presented in this dissertation reveal three broad types of ethical challenges during military operations at an individual level that are caused by social interactions of military personnel, regardless of rank. The first encompasses ethical challenges related to encounters with other individuals from another culturel background, like the local population. The second comprises work-related interactions such as those with fellow team members. The third are ethical challenges as a result of interactions with the home front. This dissertation addresses moral assessment: the processes involved with how individuals interpret ethical challenges and how they respond to them. Psychological mechanisms influence this moral assessment and are the main focus on this dissertation. The empirical studies address, in order of presentation in this dissertation: moral identity, moral disengagement, emotions, numbing, relativism, sensemaking, and moral intensity.