NCJ Number
181017
Journal
Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology Volume: 14 Issue: 1 Dated: Spring 1999 Pages: 1-18
Date Published
1999
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This research examines the existence, if any, in the presocialization personality differences between male and female police recruits as well as between female police recruits and the general population of females.
Abstract
Currently, police managers and their recruiting staff are using an increasing number of screening tools in the hiring process, including psychological testing. Prior research suggests that gender is often ignored in the review of testing results. This could lead to problems in the interpretation of results. In the current study, subjects (n=104) were from a multiagency training facility in a southern State. Subjects completed the MMPI-2 at the beginning of their police academy training to control for any socialization effects the training may have. The diagnostic clinical scales, the content scales, and the gender scales of the MMPI-2 were subjected to independent discriminant function analyses to determine whether there were differences between male and female recruits. Scale 5 (Mf), GM, and GF were analyzed via t-tests to determine whether there were differences between the female recruits and women in the normative sample. All discriminant functions were significant at the .05 level. Scales that differentiated male and female recruits were Ma (Scale 9), ASP, FRS, BIZ, Mf (Scale 5), and GF. Female recruits differed from the female normative sample on only GF (recruits were lower). Future research should focus on the predictive power of the content scales for continuation in the police field and investigate the flexibility of the gender constructs throughout the policing career. 5 tables and 16 references