NCJ Number
115925
Journal
Journal of Police Science and Administration Volume: 16 Issue: 2 Dated: (June 1988) Pages: 122-125
Date Published
1988
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This study compared the job performance of 45 officers who had been evaluated as suitable for performance on the basis of preemployment psychological screening with that of 15 officers who were hired even though they had been evaluated as unsuitable.
Abstract
The screening battery had included the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, the California Psychological Inventory, the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-B, the Incomplete Sentences Blank, and a semistructured interview. Subsequent job performance evaluations were satisfactory for 31 officers and unsatisfactory for 24. Results indicate that psychologists had correctly classified 69 percent of the sample. The primary error in classification was an incorrect designation of 13 subjects as suitable who subsequently performed in an unsatisfactory manner. Only four of the officers (7 percent) found unsuitable by psychologists received satisfactory job performance ratings. Examination of test scores indicates that satisfactory officers had more positive scores on adjustment, while unsatisfactory officers scored higher in such traits as oversensitivity, rigidity, distrust, resentment, irritability, and maladaptive hyperactivity. 2 tables and 15 references.