NCJ Number
79305
Journal
Criminal Justice Review Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: (Fall 1980) Pages: 51-56
Date Published
1980
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Findings are presented from tests of the reliability and validity of Neiderhoffer's police cynicism scale.
Abstract
Author Neiderhoffer (1969) hypothesized that police officers have cynical attitudes. To test this hypothesis, he developed a 20-item scale to measure the cynical attitudes of police. Currently, there are doubts about the reliability and validity of the scale, and the specific results reported by Neiderhoffer have been questioned by subsequent research. This study tested the scale's reliability by examining the item-total consistency and the test-retest reliability, and it tested the scale's validity by examining its concurrent validity in relation to other measures of cynicism. Four separate studies were conducted. The first involved a test and retest administration of the scale to 25 recruits enrolled in a county police training academy. The second test consisted of a factor analysis of responses to the scale by 144 male police officers attending a sex crimes analysis seminar. The third study used the same sample of officers to correlate selected concurrent criteria with the cynicism scale. The fourth study examined whether the characteristics of a sample of police were related to scores on the scale. The test-retest reliability of the scale was satisfactory, and the item-total correlations were all statistically significant; however, the scale does seem to be heterogeneous. The scale appears to have a significant degree of concurrent and construct validity, since the more cynical officers viewed persons as less trustworthy and altruistic on Wrightsman's Philosophy of Human Nature Inventory. They were less satisfied with their jobs and more anomic on Srole's anomic scale. Overall, the cynicism scale does appear to meet acceptable criteria for reliability and validity. Tabular data and 10 references are provided. (Author abstract modified)