RESEARCH-BASED CONSCRIPTION ⟩ How Two Insightful Women Are Reshaping Estonia's Military Service with Behavioral Science

The project began with interviews of young men who were avoiding service, followed by participant observations. The research team spent three days and nights living among new conscripts in military units across Estonia, observing the entire induction process. Team members attended briefings, training sessions, and even slept in the barracks alongside the recruits.

What immediately stood out to these fresh-eyed observers was the intense stress experienced by young recruits during their first few days, driven by a loss of control and uncertainty about their immediate future. Tammsaar notes that fear-based myths about conscription still circulate among Estonian youth, often fueled by the Soviet-era experiences of their parents and grandparents.

Upon entering the barracks, young conscripts must relinquish much of their personal autonomy—their ability to decide when to wake, what to eat, and how to dress. The strict military hierarchy requires obedience to orders, with punishment awaiting those who fail to comply. “No one really cares about the bleeding heels rubbed raw by military boots,” says Tammsaar.

Part of the stress stems from the culture shock of entering a military environment as a late teenager. Another factor is uncertainty—new recruits are often inadequately informed about what to expect. This latter source of anxiety, Tammsaar points out, could easily be alleviated with better and earlier communication.

According to renowned psychologist Grete Arro, much of the tension in conscription arises from officers’ lack of awareness about how their communication and motivational tactics are perceived by conscripts and whether these tactics actually support the acquisition of military skills—or hinder them.

The Three Foundations of the Will to Defend

When educational psychologist Arro joined the “I Want to Serve” project, she transformed its entire focus. “At our very first meeting, she reframed the goal,” recalls Tammsaar. “Psychological needs must not only be supported and measured at the point of conscription, but throughout the entire period of service.”

Behavioral scientists helped to synthesize the observations from the anthropological fieldwork. The findings aligned perfectly with one of the world’s most recognized motivation theories—Edward L. Deci and Richard Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory.

According to this theory, three psychological needs drive motivation: autonomy, competence, and social relatedness. When these needs are neglected, motivation—what the military calls the "will to defend," and more specifically, the "will to fight"—diminishes.

“Let’s be honest, being a soldier is one of the hardest jobs in the world. If people are willing to do it, we must ensure they can do it well and feel good about their learning process,” Arro says. “A stressed brain doesn’t learn.” She explains that stress should only be increased in military training once basic skills are automated. Early on, a calm and supportive environment is critical for learning.

Arro notes that in Estonian society, there is widespread misinformation about motivation and learning. While stress is inevitable in combat, she argues that during training, anxiety should stem from the prospect of facing an enemy, not from fear of an instructor.

A Shift in Pedagogy

"Our team’s insights and proposals were warmly received by the leadership of the Defense Forces, as our views and values aligned closely," said Tammsaar, the head of the research group. General Martin Herem, as the Chief of the Estonian Defense Forces, broke many previously established norms and rules, such as allowing conscripts more opportunities for leave, abolishing the requirement to cut their hair, and much more. For years, he has emphasized a human-centered approach to conscripts.

Inspired by the findings of Tammsaar’s team, General Martin Herem, commander of the Estonian Defense Forces, issued an order in April 2022 launching “Operation Will to Defend.” One key goal was to change attitudes toward conscripts. “The previous approach to conscripts was essentially, ‘You’re here, now shut up and do as you’re told,’” explains Colonel Tikerpuu.

Now, instructors are encouraged to see themselves as mentors, helping young citizens fulfill their duty. “The whole starting position changed,” Tikerpuu says. “Conscripts are not prisoners—they are citizens serving their country. If we want them fully invested, we must give them that opportunity.”

One practical change in the 2nd Infantry Brigade was the elimination of evening roll calls. “We want conscripts to be well-rested, ready, and motivated in the morning,” Tikerpuu explains. Conscripts are also allowed greater flexibility in when they eat during evenings and weekends, though group meals during training hours remain, as the schedule is tight.

A Paratrooper and a Scientist

Grete Arro explains that a country’s will to defend is the strongest when soldiers believe they can successfully complete their tasks and are confident in their military skills. Another vital aspect of the will to defend is the desire to fight alongside comrades, including superiors, and to return to service knowing that military life offered personal growth. “Conscripts should feel they were given time to learn, allowed to be themselves, and not expected to be perfectly formed soldiers from day one,” she explains.

Arro’s credibility in military matters is beyond question. Far from being an academic outsider, she is a seasoned member of Estonia’s voluntary military organization, the Defense League. Her desire to acquire military skills came after the 2008 Russo-Georgian war, prompting her to join the Defense League’s paratrooper unit, as she was already engaged in skydiving at the time.

Arro notes that the psychological principles her team applied to military pedagogy have already been adopted in countries like the United States and Finland. She recalls a training session in Finland where her unit, in just two days, was seamlessly integrated into an urban combat exercise.

Late-Teen Killers

One issue, Arro observes, is that the Estonian Defense Forces do not view themselves sufficiently as an educational institution tasked with teaching - from developmental aspect - late teenagers. Their brain is yet to be matured, their executive functions still developing, their need for social relationships and peer acceptance differing from that of adults, and so on.

Failing to consider these factors and treating the conscripts as though they are fully developed adults can lead to avoidable harm.

The Defense League, composed of adults who join voluntarily, operates with a different mindset, and while it also has room for improvement in training, the general assumption for conscription has been that recruits, compelled to serve, do not require any special motivational support.

This attitude, now beginning to change, fostered unnecessary resentment and ultimately worked against the primary purpose of conscription: to teach military skills. No one wants to go to war, and preparing for it is no pleasant experience, but conscription should still nurture conscripts’ intrinsic motivation. Ukrainian soldiers and their fighting culture, Arro points out, exemplify autonomous motivation—and no one would describe Ukrainian soldiers as softies.

“The scientists helped us by applying self-determination theory, which focuses on three basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and social relatedness,” says Colonel Tikerpuu. “Everyone wants to feel part of a team, have control over their actions, and be capable of performing their tasks. We started restructuring our regulations and training based on these psychological needs.”

Blind Obedience is the Exception, Not the Rule

Both Tikerpuu and Arro emphasize that, while soldiers must sometimes follow orders without question, they should still understand the rationale behind their actions during training.

When asked whether such an approach might lead to soldiers arguing with their commanders in wartime, Colonel Tikerpuu responds that the opposite is true: “if soldiers are confident that their training is purposeful and well-planned, they trust the military more, making it easier to follow orders when necessary.” Contrary to popular belief, blind obedience is not the norm in the military.

“Even in wartime, we always communicate the commander’s intent and broader objective—this is what we call mission command. If no specific order is given, a soldier must still understand what their unit needs to accomplish and be able to act accordingly,” explains Colonel Tikerpuu.

A Sense of Normalcy Grows with Experience

Summing up, educational psychologist Grete Arro notes that everything ultimately depends on whether conscripts and reservists feel they are being treated as normal human beings, and whether the military instructors understand how they are perceived. “Behaving like a ‘normal’ person is nuanced and difficult for everyone, but there is so much scientific and empirical research to support our recommendations—it would be foolish to ignore it,” says Arro. In her view, scientific approaches are especially crucial in the life-and-death context of military service. Both the Defense Forces and behavioral scientists agree that their collaboration will continue.

As a member of the Defense League, educational psychologist Grete Arro has insights into reservist training that may come to light in the future. Colonel Tikerpuu is convinced that it will take a generation for these reforms to fully take root in the Defense Forces, as the experiences of today’s military personnel inevitably shape their understanding of what constitutes “normal” military training.