Disclosed herein is a battery module including two or more battery cells, which can be charged and discharged, stacked in a state of being adjacent to each other in a vertical direction or in a horizontal direction, and sheathing members for respectively fixing the battery cells to form a battery cell stack, wherein each of the battery cells has electrode leads electrically connected to an electrode assembly, which is mounted in a battery cell case of each of the battery cells, in a state of protruding outward from the battery cell case, the electrode leads of the battery cells of the battery cell stack are coupled to each other by welding to form a coupled portion of the electrode leads, and the coupled portion of the electrode leads or the remaining portion of the electrode leads excluding the coupled portion of the electrode leads is provided with a damping structure for absorbing or buffering external force applied to the battery module or vibration generated during welding.