NCJ Number
202896
Journal
American Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 27 Issue: 2 Dated: Spring 2003 Pages: 233-248
Date Published
2003
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study evaluated the incremental validity of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2), the Inwald Personality Inventory (IPI), and the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) for predicting police academy performance.
Abstract
Police departments have long utilized personality and psychological inventories to screen potential police recruits. Such inventories have been relied upon to eliminate job applicants who, for one reason or another, are unfit for police work. While the MMPI-2, the IPI, and the NEO PI-R have been used to screen job applicants, researchers have not yet investigated their relative effectiveness at predicting positive performance among police recruits. As such, the authors administered the MMPI-2, the IPI, and the NEO PI-R to 79 police recruits who had received conditional offers of employment from a large countywide suburban police department in the St. Louis, MO metropolitan area. Results of statistical analyses reveal that all three inventories provide valid predictions concerning academic performance in the police academy. However, only the NEO PI-R was able to validly predict physical performance in the academy. As such, the authors recommend the addition of the NEO PI-R inventory to selection processes that already incorporate the MMPI-2 and the IPI in order to enhance the prediction of police recruit performance. Tables, references