NCJ Number
54376
Date Published
1978
Length
104 pages
Annotation
RESULTS ARE REPORTED OF A STUDY THAT EXAMINED POLICE OFFICERS' CAPACITY TO 'SELF-ACTUALIZE' IN RELATION TO EDUCATIONAL LEVEL.
Abstract
THIS STUDY THEORIZED THAT THE ABILITY TO BE A 'SELF-ACTUALIZING' PERSON, AS DESCRIBED BY ABRAHAM MASLOW, IS ENHANCED BY THE PROCESS OF HIGHER EDUCATION; THUS, THE MORE EDUCATED THE INDIVIDUAL, THE MORE DEVELOPED HIS CAPACITY TO SELF-ACTUALIZE. THIS HYPOTHESIS WAS TESTED ON 89 WHITE, MALE, VOLUNTEER SUBJECTS EMPLOYED BY 9 SOUTHEAST FLORIDA POLICE DEPARTMENTS. TWO GROUPS OF OFFICERS WERE IDENTIFIED BY EDUCATIONAL LEVEL ATTAINED, HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA OR COLLEGE DEGREE. DEMOGRAPHIC DATA WERE COLLECTED, AND THREE PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST INSTRUMENTS--THE PERSONAL ORIENTATION INVENTORY, THE NEUROTICISM SCALE QUESTIONNAIRE, AND THE ADJECTIVE CHECK LIST--WERE ADMINISTERED TO MEASURE DIMENSIONS OF THE SELF-ACTUALIZING PERSON. THESE TESTS SUPPLIED 39 DEPENDENT MEASURES WHICH WERE REDUCED TO 18 KEY VARIABLES CONSIDERED MOST DIRECTLY RELATED TO SELF-ACTUALIZATION. FACTOR ANALYSIS SUPPORTED THE VARIABLE SELECTION, AND THE FINAL SET OF VARIABLES WAS REDUCED TO 12. MULTIVARIATE AND SECONDARY UNIVARIATE ANALYSES OF VARIANCE WERE PERFORMED ACROSS GROUPS ON THE 12 DEPENDENT MEASURE, AND NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES WERE FOUND BETWEEN GROUPS IN SELF-ACTUALIZATION MEASURES; THUS, THE HYPOTHESIS WAS NOT PROVEN. AN ANALYSIS OF EXTREME RESPONDING ON THE TOTAL 39 VARIABLES IS BELIEVED TO SUGGEST SOME POTENTIAL TRENDS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL RESPONSES THAT MIGHT BE RELATED TO THE DEMANDS OF A HIGH VISIBILITY, STRESSFUL JOB. CHI SQUARE ANALYSIS OF THE DEMOGRAPHIC DATA FOUND SIGNIFICANTLY MORE COLLEGE OFFICERS WERE CURRENTLY MARRIED AS OPPOSED TO DIVORCED OR SINGLE. ALSO, COLLEGE EDUCATED OFFICERS ENJOYED SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER RANK AND SALARY, BUT WERE LESS SATISFIED WITH THEIR JOBS THAN WERE THEIR HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATED COUNTERPARTS. IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE PRESS FOR MORE COLLEGE EDUCATED OFFICERS SHOULD AWAIT RESEARCH RESULTS THAT CAN REVEAL WHAT THE COLLEGE EDUCATED POLICE OFFICER NEEDS AND WANTS FROM HIS JOB AND HOW IT RELATES TO HIS COLLEGE EDUCATION. THE APPENDIXES INCLUDE TABULAR DATA DERIVED FROM THE STUDY AND A SAMPLE OF THE DEMOGRAPHIC QUESTIONNAIRE. REFERENCES ARE ALSO PROVIDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED---RCB)