Challenges to national defence in contemporary geopolitical situation

This study focuses on the evaluation of the moderating role of psychological resilience in intrinsic motivation. These causal relationships were evaluated in terms of self-efficacy and perceived military competence, taking into account the effects of intrinsic motivation and psychological resilience. Five hypotheses were developed on the effects of the theoretically supported variable relations. The study data set was collected from the Active Lithuanian Army Reserve. In this study, 354 soldiers were investigated using the Brief Resilience Scale (BRE), the Self-Efficacy Scale (EFF), the Intrinsic Motivation Scale (INM) and the Perceived Military Competence Scale (PMC). The results of the analysis conducted showed that between self-efficacy and the growth of perceived military competence is a positive relationship both for soldiers with high and low points of intrinsic motivation. In addition, it can be concluded that reservists with higher internal motivation have more confidence in their abilities to act and achieve the set goals, which can have a significant impact on reservists' readiness to improve their military competence. Similarly, self-efficacy appears to be vital in improving military competences among soldiers with less intrinsic motivation. Moreover, soldiers with higher intrinsic motivation and higher psychological resilience probably increase their military competence due to the pleasure they derive from participating in military exercises.

The objective of this article is to describe the system of defence education for Polish youth after 1989 and its transformations. The article indicates that in Polish primary and secondary schools today, the subject of security education is taught, and in some high schools – especially in Certified Military Uniformed Classes – the subject of military education is taught as well. Among students, however, the defence curriculum is taught mainly as part of extra-curricular activities, mainly within the Academic Legion and Passport Programme. On the basis of the research strengthening military potential is supported by the defence education of young people. The exploration underlined that achieving the defence objectives outlined by the programmes of the Ministry of National Defence in agreement with the Ministry of National Education. The study used the diagnostic survey research method and the techniques of content analysis, a questionnaire, interviews, and observations. The article conluds recommendations for security education curriculum.