Citation

Lester D, Genz JL. J. Police Sci. Adm. 1978; 6: 479-481.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1978, International Association of Chiefs of Police, Publisher Northwestern University School of Law)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In the last decade a considerable amount of research has been conducted on the personality variable of the locus of control... No research has been conducted yet to investigate how this dimension of belief might differ in various occupational groups. It was felt that the quasi-military nature of the police force with its emphasis on authority relationsihps within the force might lead to a growth in the belief in external control in the police officer...

Incidental to this major focus of the study, it was decided to inquire as to how satisfied the police officers were with their jobs as police officers.

The internal-external locus of control questionnaire was administered anonymously to two classes of experienced municipal police officers. In addition, each officer was asked to rate his satisfaction with his job as a police officer on a six-point scale: very satisfied (1), satisfied (2)...

Results: Belief in an external locus of control was found to be related to job satisfaction in municipal police officers and was found to distinguish recruits from experienced officers. The relevance of these findings to selection and training the police officer was discussed.

Language: en