Police personality : and the relationship between personality and preferences for conflict resolution tactics

Abstract

Do police officers possess certain personality characteristics that make them unique compared to the non-police population? This question has been the subject of an extensive line of research. Several researchers have found evidence of a so-called police personality, while other researchers have failed to detect personality differences between the police and the public. Also, some researchers have found that officers differ from each other in terms of job performance, and that personality differences predict such variation in performance. This indicates personality differences between officers. The fact that officers have been found to be both similar to each other and different from each other can easily be a subject of confusion. The same confusion applies for the relationship between personality and police officer job performance. The current research attempted to examine further personality differences between the police and the public, using the Big-Five taxonomy of personality. There is a general consensus that the Big-Five represents the best way of measuring personality. Using this taxonomy, researchers may be able to gain systematic knowledge concerning the personality characteristics of police officers. Personality was measured using the Big Five Inventory (BFI) in Norwegian. Differences in officers job performance were also examined, using preferences for ways of resolving conflict situations as job performance criterion. The subjects were 179 patrol officers from the police district of Hordaland. The officers differed significantly from the public on several personality dimensions. In addition, the officers differed from each other in terms of preferences for conflict resolution tactics. An exploratory factor analysis suggested that officers may be described along two dimensions, labeled Coercion and Dialogue. Personality was only weakly related to differences in preferences for conflict resolution tactics.