Introduction: The present study deals with a comparison of distress tolerance, mental health and conflict management among native and nonnative soldiers in a military organization.
Method: The research population included 750 single soldiers. They were in service in fall, 2017, had served 5 to 17 months of their military service and their education level was from the fifth grade of primary school to high school diploma. From among them, a sample of 250 soldiers was selected using the multi-stage sampling method and Morgan Table. Considering the research method and native/nonnative criterion, the sample was divided into two groups, and they answered the Distress Tolerance Scale, the Polotzin and Elison's Spiritual Well-Being Questionnaire and the Robbins’ Conflict Management Questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA).
Results: The results indicated a significant difference between the two groups in distress tolerance (F=105.224, p<0.001), but they were not different in spiritual well-being. It was further revealed that, in conflict management, the difference between the two groups was meaningful in compromise style (F=75.62, p<0.001), but in the other two methods (competition and avoidance) no difference was observed.
Conclusion: Considering the results, we can conclude that native soldiers have higher distress tolerance ability than nonnative ones, and they utilize compromise as an efficient conflict management method.