NCJ Number
72180
Date Published
1976
Length
90 pages
Annotation
A study of the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) used to predict police performance, which involved 40 officers tested as recruits, found a high correlation between good job performance and personal well-being, self-control, and responsibility.
Abstract
The recruits were tested with the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) when they entered the police academy; performance evaluations as officers were collected for them 2 years after academy graduation. The evaluation data were analyzed via a stepwise multiple regression. A prediction equation was derived using 17 of the 18 CPI scales to predict performance. The multiple correlation coefficient was .61 with 37 percent of the variance in the performance evaluations explained by the CPI scales. The highest correlation was found between performance and well-being, with responsibility, self-control, achievement through independence, achievement through conformance, and tolerance following. The CPI thus has some value in estimating the future performance of police officers. In addition, it reveals something about officer characteristics influencing the ratings given by superiors, as a correlational analysis indicates that higher rated officers had a greater sense of well-being, accepted the responsibility of their jobs, and exercised self-control. However, the prediction equation achieved a multiple correlation higher than usually found in police selection studies; because of a lack of cross validation, it cannot be taken as significant. A total of 21 references, tables, and an appended paper containing bibliography of approximately 70 references are provided.