“We don’t rise to the level of our expectations; we fall to the level of our training.”
– Archilochus

Career in Defence Services is the epitome of adventure, quintessential life style and superlative professional contentment. It’s a profession which binges on passion, perseverance and zeal to lead a life less ordinary.

Consequently, getting into the folds of the defence services is a different ball game altogether. The approach to crack SSB has to be a well-calculated process, rather there is a paradigm shift in the overall approach. The methodology of preparing for various exams is based on exhaustive study, practice and memory-centric. However, to get a recommendation in SSB, the approach has to be focused on holistic personality development.

Every profession has its own peculiar selection procedure based on suitability. The following example would amply clarify this aspect:

1. The Banking Sector requires, quantitative aptitude, reasoning ability, general awareness (with special focus on banking awareness), English language, and computer knowledge.
2. IT& Telecom Sector typically involves a structured recruitment process designed to evaluate technical skills, problem-solving ability, and cultural fit.
3. The selection of officers in the Government Sector generally follows a rigorous process designed to assess a candidate’s knowledge, aptitude, decision-making ability, and suitability for public service.

The above is just part of few popular choices of profession and their Modus operandi. On the contrary, the focus of selection of officers in the defence services is based on assessment of overall personality. The requirement is thoroughly streamlined by delineating 15 officers like qualities or leadership qualities as under:

Since the requirement is of multi-faceted and well-rounded personality, the process is therefore scientifically based of various principles of sociology and psychology.

The Genesis

The Germans were the first to introduce the psychological testing of personality for induction of officer’s cadre during the World War II. After analysing the performance of officers during WW I, it was clearly evident that there was need to overhaul the selection procedure of military leaders. The study of various battles/ conflicts and the outcome amply reflected the efficacy of good leaders. The Britishers were next to acknowledge the need of psychometric testing for assessment of leadership qualities. This was the precursor to the present-day selection process in the SSB.

Therefore, it is pertinent that the Defence aspirants understand the science behind the selection process. The above would address any fear of unknown and avoid depending on unscrupulous content available on social media.

In addition to the assessment of the present level of the candidate, the SSB process goes further to ascertain the potential/trainability based on certain basic considerations like age, IQ, socioeconomic background etc.

The final result therefore does not project failure, rather culminates with recommendation and non-recommendation.

For understanding SSB pedagogy this article further delves into following aspects:

• Defining Personality
• The Ocean of Mind
• Decipher the personality assessment techniques (PAT)
• Correlate PAT
• The Right Approach

Personality can be defined as dynamic organisation of those psycho-physical systems, which determines our characteristic behaviour and thoughts. There have been numerous attempts to define personality from various perspectives. The explanation mostly revolves around the purpose or profession for which it is being explored.

Militarily, defining personality focused on leadership qualities, the dynamic aspect being paramount.

In a military context, personality encompasses the set of qualities, traits, and behaviours that contribute to an individual’s effectiveness, resilience, and adaptability within the structured and demanding environment of military service. Here are a few key aspects:

1. Discipline and Self-Control: Military personnel are expected to follow orders, adhere to routines, and control their emotions in high-stress situations. A disciplined personality is foundational in a structured, rule-bound environment like the military.
2. Courage and Resilience: Military individuals often face life-threatening situations, so courage—both physical and moral—is essential. Resilience, or the ability to recover from setbacks, is equally vital for maintaining focus and composure.
3. Adaptability and Flexibility: Military operations can change rapidly, requiring individuals who are adaptable and capable of making swift, sound decisions even under pressure.
4. Leadership and Teamwork: Military personnel must possess leadership qualities, as they may be called upon to lead others, make crucial decisions, and inspire confidence. At the same time, they must work effectively within teams, showing cooperation and respect for the chain of command.
5. Integrity and Responsibility: Honesty, accountability, and ethical behaviour are paramount, as military roles involve significant responsibility over both people and resources. Integrity fosters trust within a unit and is critical in high-stakes situations.
6. Emotional Intelligence: Recognizing and managing one’s emotions, as well as understanding others’ emotions, is essential for effective teamwork and conflict resolution, which are often required in military operations.

These traits form a personality suited for the rigors of military life, balancing strength with empathy, obedience with independent thinking, and courage with caution.

The Ocean of Mind

The “ocean of the mind” is a metaphor often used to illustrate the vast, dynamic, and sometimes turbulent nature of human consciousness and thought. Just like the ocean, the mind has multiple layers, depths, and currents that can be complex and difficult to navigate. Here are some key elements of this metaphor:

1. Depths of Consciousness: Just as the ocean has different layers—from the surface to the deep sea—our mind has layers of awareness, including the conscious, subconscious, and unconscious mind. The surface represents our conscious thoughts and immediate awareness, while deeper levels represent our hidden memories, instincts, and latent desires.
2. Waves and Currents: The mind, like the ocean, is filled with “waves” of thoughts, emotions, and impulses that ebb and flow constantly. Just as waves rise and fall on the ocean’s surface, thoughts and feelings come and go in the mind. Sometimes they are gentle, while at other times, they are stormy and overwhelming.
3. Mysteries and Depths: The deep ocean is mysterious and largely unexplored, just as there are aspects of our minds that we don’t fully understand. The unconscious mind holds buried memories, fears, and instincts, much of which we aren’t always aware of but which still influence our actions.
4. Calm and Turbulence: The mind can be calm and reflective, like a still ocean on a peaceful day, or it can be stormy and chaotic, reflecting periods of stress, anxiety, or emotional turmoil. Achieving mental clarity and tranquillity often requires calming the “waves” of our thoughts through practices like meditation, mindfulness, or self-reflection.
5. Hidden Treasures: The ocean holds hidden treasures—resources, wisdom, and unknown life forms. Similarly, within the depths of our minds, we often have untapped potential, creativity, resilience, and insights waiting to be discovered through introspection and personal growth.
6. Connection to the Greater Whole: Just as all oceans are interconnected, the mind connects individuals to a broader collective consciousness or shared experience. Our thoughts, emotions, and experiences link us to others in ways that are often profound, reminding us of the universal nature of the human experience.

This “ocean of the mind” represents the vast, layered, and intricate nature of human thoughts and feelings, encompassing both light and dark, calm and chaos, and offering the possibility for self-discovery and personal mastery.

In simple words, the three different layers of the consciousness is as under:

• Conscious Mind
• Subconscious Mind
• Unconscious Mind

The Conscious Mind

The conscious mind is the part of our mental processing that involves active awareness and intentional thought. It’s the aspect of our mind responsible for handling our immediate perceptions, thoughts, feelings, and decisions. When we are actively thinking, problem-solving, or engaging in conversations, we are using our conscious mind.

Key characteristics of the conscious mind include:

1. Awareness: The conscious mind allows us to be aware of our surroundings, actions, and internal thoughts. It’s what we are actively “thinking” at any given moment.
2. Decision-Making and Willpower: This part of the mind is where we make choices, exert self-control, and act with intention. For example, when choosing what to eat or deciding to follow a particular course of action, we are using the conscious mind.
3. Short-Term Memory: The conscious mind manages short-term or “working” memory, holding information that we need to process or use immediately, like remembering a phone number briefly before dialling it.
4. Logical Thinking: It is responsible for rational thought, analysis, and logical reasoning, allowing us to evaluate situations, solve problems, and draw conclusions.
5. Control Over Actions: The conscious mind guides voluntary actions and behaviours, meaning it decides and directs movements that we are aware of and intend to carry out.

The conscious mind operates in the present moment and is limited in capacity, typically focusing on one or a few things at a time. It works alongside the subconscious and unconscious mind, which hold deeper thoughts, memories, and automatic functions that operate beyond our immediate awareness.

The Subconscious Mind

The subconscious mind is the part of the mind that operates just below the level of conscious awareness. It plays a crucial role in shaping our behaviour, emotions, and responses by managing processes that we don’t actively think about. Here are some key aspects of the subconscious mind:

1. Storehouse of Memories and Experiences: The subconscious mind holds memories, experiences, and learned knowledge that we aren’t actively aware of. These memories can influence our present behaviours, reactions, and perceptions even when we don’t consciously recall them.
2. Automatic Habits and Skills: Once we learn a skill, like driving or brushing our teeth, it becomes a subconscious habit, allowing us to perform it automatically. This frees up our conscious mind for other tasks, creating mental efficiency in daily routines.
3. Emotional Influence: Emotions and deeply held beliefs are stored in the subconscious. These emotional associations, often formed in early life, can shape our responses to situations and people, influencing our mood, relationships, and self-perception.
4. Beliefs and Conditioning: The subconscious holds core beliefs and patterns that often form through early life experiences, cultural conditioning, or repeated experiences. These beliefs guide our thoughts, choices, and self-image, whether we’re aware of them or not.
5. Intuition and Gut Reactions: The subconscious processes vast amounts of information rapidly, sometimes resulting in “gut feelings” or intuition. These instinctive responses are based on patterns and past experiences, guiding our decisions when logic alone might be insufficient.
6. Dreams and Creative Imagination: During sleep, the subconscious mind expresses itself through dreams, processing emotions, memories, and unresolved issues. It also drives imagination, creativity, and insights, making it a resource for innovative problem-solving and artistic expression.
7. 7. Automatic Bodily Functions: The subconscious mind regulates essential bodily functions, such as breathing, heartbeat, and digestion, which occur without conscious thought.

Overall, the subconscious mind operates continuously in the background, shaping our thoughts, habits, and perceptions without active awareness. Understanding and harnessing the subconscious can lead to personal growth, as it allows us to reframe beliefs, shift habits, and develop greater self-awareness.

The Unconscious Mind

The unconscious mind is the deepest layer of the mind, containing thoughts, memories, desires, and instincts that are not accessible to our conscious awareness. This part of the mind operates entirely outside our control and awareness, yet it influences our behaviours, emotions, and motivations in powerful ways. Here are key characteristics of the unconscious mind:

1. Repository of Repressed Memories: The unconscious mind holds memories, particularly those that are painful, traumatic, or disturbing, which may be too overwhelming to confront consciously. These repressed memories can subtly affect our behaviour and emotional responses, often without our awareness.
2. Primitive Instincts and Drives: The unconscious mind is the source of basic, instinctual drives, such as those related to survival, aggression, and sexuality. Sigmund Freud famously associated the unconscious with the “id,” the part of the psyche driven by primal urges that seek immediate gratification.
3. Influence on Behaviour and Decisions: Although we are unaware of the contents of our unconscious, they can influence our choices, behaviours, and reactions. For instance, unconscious biases or unresolved emotional conflicts may shape how we react to certain people, situations, or challenges.
4. Dream Symbolism: The unconscious mind often communicates through dreams, using symbols and imagery to process hidden feelings or desires. Psychologists, especially in psychoanalysis, interpret dreams as windows into the unconscious, revealing repressed thoughts and emotions.
5. Automatic Responses and Defence Mechanisms: The unconscious mind generates psychological defence mechanisms, such as denial, repression, and projection, to protect the conscious mind from distressing feelings or knowledge. These defences help us cope with uncomfortable realities without fully realizing it.
6. Source of Creativity and Intuition: Creativity, deep intuition, and imaginative insights are often said to stem from the unconscious. This part of the mind can connect ideas in novel ways or offer intuitive solutions to complex problems, as it processes information beyond conscious logic.
7. Timeless and Associative Nature: Unlike the conscious mind, which operates logically and sequentially, the unconscious mind is often timeless and associative. Memories, symbols, and feelings are stored in a way that isn’t always linear or logical, leading to complex and sometimes unexpected associations.

The unconscious mind, though inaccessible directly, can be explored indirectly through introspection, therapy, dreams, or creative practices. Understanding and integrating unconscious elements can lead to personal growth, helping us gain insight into patterns, resolve inner conflicts, and develop a more comprehensive sense of self.

Understanding the Personality Assessment Techniques (PAT)

Since these three layers of the ocean of mind affect the behavioural pattern differently, the need was felt to probe these using appropriate techniques based on principles of psychology and sociology.

Probing Conscious Mind: Since the Conscious Mind involves the aspect of our mind responsible for handling our immediate perceptions, thoughts, feelings, and decisions, a thorough probe by means of one-to-one interaction appears appropriate. Furthermore, a formal interview would not reveal the behavioural traits effectively. Hence the semi-formal interview format was formulated to assess the personality.

Probing Subconscious Mind:

Since subconscious mind plays a crucial role in shaping our behaviour, emotions, and responses by managing processes that we don’t actively think about, it can be probed by creating dynamic situations required to be handled while being part of a leaderless group. Therefore, the Group testing technique has been structured to probe the subconscious mind. The demonstrated performance therefore forms the backbone of the overall personality assessment in the services selection board.

Probing Unconscious Mind:

This part of the mind operates entirely outside our control and awareness and yet it influences our behaviours, emotions, and motivations in powerful ways. It is therefore pertinent to probe deeper using the psychometric technique. The psychologist and psychiatrist have developed and effectively administered psychometric tests to reveal the deep-rooted psychological problems. However, for assessment of personality in the military context, the probing methodology has to be accordingly designed. Hence the psychometric tests like TAT, WAT, SRT were tweaked to reflect on officer-like qualities or leadership qualities.

The Right Approach

The right approach for an effective preparation for success in SSB has to be rightfully aligned with the selection process. It is therefore important to analyse the personality with respect to the OLQs and focus on holistic personality development under experienced mentors, who have experience of not only assessment in SSB but also mentoring for a considerable period of time. The defence aspirants must sharpen their communication skills and physical fitness before undertaking course for mentoring.

Conclusion

In the Services Selection Board (SSB), the assessment of personality is a holistic process designed to evaluate a candidate’s suitability for a career in the armed forces. The SSB seeks to identify Officer-Like Qualities (OLQs), including leadership, courage, adaptability, effective communication, decision-making, and emotional resilience. By assessing these qualities, the SSB aims to determine whether a candidate possesses the mental, emotional, and social attributes necessary to thrive in the challenging and structured environment of military service.

The personality assessment process focuses on selecting candidates who exhibit a balanced, adaptable, and resilient personality. Such candidates demonstrate the potential to lead, function effectively under stress, and work collaboratively in diverse teams. Ultimately, the SSB aims to ensure that only those individuals who have the character, integrity, and capability to uphold the values and responsibilities of the armed forces are selected, forming the foundation for a strong, disciplined, and dedicated military force.