NCJ Number
187917
Journal
Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management Volume: 24 Issue: 1 Dated: 2001 Pages: 88-99
Editor(s)
Lawrence F. Travis III
Date Published
2001
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This study assesses a series of assumptions derived from the disconfirmation model in particular whether disparity between citizen expectations of police performance and the service that was actually received affects satisfaction with police.
Abstract
The expectancy disconfirmation model is the interrelationship between what citizens expect from the police and their perceptions of police performance, or services rendered. This study investigates the scope of the expectancy disconfirmation model using data from both voluntary (i.e., crime victims) and involuntary (i.e., traffic tickets) police-citizen encounters, as well as different measures of satisfaction (i.e., global and specific). Survey data were collected from citizens in a medium sized Midwestern city who recently had police encounters. The study found support for the expectancy disconfirmation model’s primary hypothesis that increased disparity between expectations of police performance and actual service inversely affects citizen satisfaction with the way the police handle encounters. This persisted for both voluntary and involuntary police encounters. The results also suggest that the scope of the expectancy disconfirmation model is limited. The disparity between expectations and actual service is not correlated with citizen satisfaction with the police in general. Overall, the results show that the expectancy disconfirmation model is useful in that it provides conceptual guidance in an area of research that has been relatively void of theory, and can assist in identifying needed changes in police practices.