‘Influencing human behavior’: UK MoD-funded psychological research project leaked

The UK Defense Ministry is actively looking for a contractor for its new psychological research, which is allegedly aimed at boosting troops’ performance and well-being. Some details of the project are quite unnerving, though.

At first glance, the whole study appears to be mostly aimed at supporting the troops and improving their performance in the rapidly changing environment of the “21th century in the UK and globally.” Five out of six research areas listed in the Cambridge tender bid that gives a detailed insight into what appears to be the nature of the project are dealing with typical personnel issues pretty much every country’s military could face nowadays.

The list includes providing “novel approaches… to support delivery of a sufficient, capable, motivated and cost-efficient workforce,” helping the military to develop necessary skills, optimizing personnel performance and improving the troops’ psychological and physical health.

The sixth area, however look far less innocent as it is called “understanding and influencing human behavior” and requires any future Defense Ministry partners to develop “information activities and outreach…as non-kinetic components of military full spectrum effects” as well as to enable “messaging of the UK domestic and Defense internal audiences that promotes attraction … of our people (military and civilian).”

[link to www.rt.com (secure)]