Since 1954, the Norwegian Armed Forces have annually administered an unchanged general mental ability test to male cohorts, comprising figure matrices, word similarities, and mathematical reasoning tests. These stable and representative data have supported various claims about shifts in general mental ability (GMA) levels, notably the Flynn effect and its reversal, influencing extensive research linking these scores with health and other outcomes. This study examines whether observed temporal trends in scores reflect changes in latent intelligence or are confounded by evolving test characteristics and specific test-taking abilities in numerical reasoning, word comprehension, and figure matrices reasoning. Our findings, using multiple-group factor analysis and multiple indicator multiple cause (MIMIC) models, indicate that while there was a general upward trend in observed scores until 1993, this was predominantly driven by enhancements in the fluid intelligence task, specifically figure matrices reasoning. Notably, these gains do not uniformly translate to a rise in underlying GMA, suggesting the presence of domain-specific improvements and test characteristic changes over time. Conversely, the observed decline is primarily due to decreases in word comprehension and numerical reasoning tests, also reflecting specific abilities not attributable to changes in the latent GMA factor. Our findings further challenge the validity of claims that changes in the general factor drive the Flynn effect and its reversal. Furthermore, they caution against using these scores for longitudinal studies without accounting for changes in test characteristics.
Norrøne, Tore Nøttestad & Nordmo, Morten (2025)
Comparing Proctored and Unproctored Cognitive Ability Testing in High-Stakes Personnel Selection
International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 33(1) Doi: 10.1111/ijsa.70001
New advances in computerized adaptive testing (CAT) have increased the feasibility of high-stakes unproctored testing of general mental ability (GMA) in personnel selection contexts. This study presents the results from a within-subject investigation of the convergent validity of unproctored tests. Three batteries of cognitive ability tests were administered during personnel selection in the Norwegian Armed Forces. A total of 537 candidates completed two sets of proctored fixed-length GMA tests before and during the selection process. In addition, an at-home unproctored CAT battery of tests was administered before the selection process began. Differences and similarities between the convergent validity of the tests were evaluated. The convergent validity coefficients did not significantly differ between proctored and unproctored batteries, both on observed GMA scores and the latent factor level. The distribution and standardized residuals of test scores comparing proctored-proctored and proctored-unproctored were overall quite similar and showed no evidence of score inflation or deflation in the unproctored tests. The similarities between proctored and unproctored results also extended to the moderately searchable words similarity test. Although some unlikely individual cases were observed, the overall results suggest that the unproctored tests maintained their convergent validity.
Nordmo, Magnus; Sunde, Hans Fredrik, Kleppestø, Thomas Haarklau, Nordmo, Morten, Caspi, Avshalom, Moffitt, Terrie E. & Torvik, Fartein Ask (2024)
Cognitive Abilities and Educational Attainment as Antecedents of Mental Disorders: A Total Population Study of Males
There is a growing concern that the mental health of adolescents is worsening and that this deterioration may influence adolescents’ willingness and ability to complete military service. The purpose of this study is to investigate yearly relationships between self-reported mental health indicators and motivation for military service. To accomplish this, nationwide yearly percentile records from repeated cross-sectional records of Norwegian cohorts (N = 891,600) collected from 2009 to 2022 were evaluated. The results show that the number of adolescents with self-reported mental health diagnoses increased every year for both males and females. Well-being and coping decreased over time for females (but not males), although absolute levels were high throughout the study period. Despite evidence of worsening mental health and well-being, self-described motivation and aptitude for military service were largely stable over time for both genders. The negative trends in mental health are not associated with functional consequences for adolescents’ motivation and aptitude to complete military service.
Comparison between the brief seven-item and full eating disorder examination-questionnaire (EDE-Q) in clinical and non-clinical female Norwegian samples
The Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire (EDE-Q) is a widely used self-report measure to assess eating disorder symptoms in clinical and research settings. One limitation of the EDE-Q is its length (28 questions), which can preclude its use in research studies where assessments need to be short. A brief seven-question version has been proposed (referred to as the EDE-Q7), but few studies have evaluated its usefulness in comparison to the full EDE-Q. In our study we aimed to provide a comparison between the brief EDE-Q7 and the full EDE-Q among female Norwegian patients and non-patients. The brief EDE-Q7 produced similar responses compared to the full EDE-Q and performed well in tests of its integrity as a measure. Our findings suggest that the EDE-Q7 may serve as a viable alternative to the full EDE-Q for brief assessment and screening purposes.
Nordmo, Morten; Norrøne, Tore Nøttestad, Nikolaisen, Kristian & Svarstad, Daniel (2023)
Examining the roots of turnover intentions in the Royal Norwegian Navy, the role of embeddedness, work-life conflict and predictability
Retaining qualified personnel is a priority for armed forces, and turnover presents a serious problem. This study uses job embeddedness theory to investigate embeddedness factors, predictability and work–life conflict as predictors of turnover intentions in commissioned officers (COs) and non-commissioned officers (NCOs) in the Royal Norwegian Navy. The study posits that career prospects, community fit, organisational fit and organisational links embed personnel and are associated with a reduction in turnover intentions. In addition, the study proposes a mechanism whereby personnel who experience a predictable work schedule have better work–life balance and subsequently lower turnover intentions. Predictability in turn is hypothesised to be associated with the possibility of flexible hours. Using structural equation modelling, we find that embeddedness factors predicted turnover intentions for both personnel categories, but career prospects were the only significant embeddedness factor for NCOs. Predictability was associated with a reduction in turnover intentions via work–life conflict for both groups. In addition, flexible hours showed an effect on work–life conflict for both groups, but through different mechanisms. Overall, the results point to differential actions to reduce turnover between COs and NCOs in the armed forces and conclude with a priority list for actions to reduce turnover in each personnel group.
Physical and emotional intimacy between humans and robots may become commonplace over the next decades, as technology improves at a rapid rate. This development provides new questions pertaining to how people perceive robots designed for different kinds of intimacy, both as companions and potentially as competitors. We performed a randomized experiment where participants read of either a robot that could only perform sexual acts, or only engage in non-sexual platonic love relationships. The results of the current study show that females have less positive views of robots, and especially of sex robots, compared to men. Contrary to the expectation rooted in evolutionary psychology, females expected to feel more jealousy if their partner got a sex robot, rather than a platonic love robot. The results further suggests that people project their own feelings about robots onto their partner, erroneously expecting their partner to react as they would to the thought of ones’ partner having a robot.
Nordmo, Morten; Olsen, Olav Kjellevold, Hetland, Jørn, Espevik, Roar, Bakker, Arnold B. & Pallesen, Ståle (2020)
It's been a hard day's night: A diary study on hardiness and reduced sleep quality among naval sailors
Background: Poor sleep is a growing concern in naval settings. Previous research has demonstrated that both civilian and military naval work strains sleep quality as well as a negative relationship between sleep quality and crew work performance. Variables moderating this relationship, such as leadership are of interest. Materials and methods: The present paper investigates how sailors’ daily variations in sleep quality influence self-rated naval work-performance and interacts with perceived daily transformational leadership during a 30-day naval training mission. Results: Using multi-level analysis, we found significant positive main effects of sleep quality and transformational leadership on naval work performance. Transformational leadership moderated the sleep quality-work performance link. Individuals who experienced higher levels of leadership were less prone to reductions in performance after poor sleep. Conclusions: Overall, the results suggest that leadership can partly negate some of the reduction in performance that often accompanies poor sleep, and that leadership becomes more important as the crew becomes sleepier
Nordmo, Morten; Danielsen, Yngvild Sørebø & Nordmo, Magnus (2019)
The challenge of keeping it off, a descriptive systematic review of high-quality, follow-up studies of obesity treatments.
How changing admission practices affect sociodemographics, satisfaction, personality, gender, and dropout of students in the professional psychologist study program in Norway :
