Document Type

Article

Source Publication Title

Police Quarterly

DOI

10.1177/10986111231193032

Abstract

Much research has discussed the "police personality." Yet, it is still unclear what particular traits make up the police personality—or whether it exists at all. This can be partially attributed to the limited availability of data collected within individual police departments. Using a nationally representative sample of adults (Add Health), the current study examines whether the Big Five personality traits, temperamental characteristics, and empirically informed covariates are related to being a police officer. Results indicate that, compared to the general population, individuals in law enforcement score significantly lower on openness to experience. Police officers are also more likely than non-officers to have experienced divorce, served in the military, lean politically conservative, and be male. These findings provide partial support for the notion that there are distinct factors that define the police personality.

Publication Date

1-1-2023

Language

English

Comments

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research uses data from Add Health, a program project directed by Kathleen Mullan Harris and designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and funded by grant P01-HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 23 other federal agencies and foundations. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Information on how to obtain the Add Health data files is available on the Add Health website (https://www.cpc.unc.edu/addhealth). No direct support was received from grant P01-HD31921 for this analysis. Dr. Michael TenEyck is an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Arlington. His research interests include criminological theory testing, intimate partner violence, and the biopsychosocial correlates of crime. Dr. TenEyck's current research examines the predictors of recidivism and early release in a sample of adult probationers as well as the impact of physical attractiveness, personality, and personal grooming on a variety of criminal justice outcomes. He is the recipient of the 2021 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Outstanding Mentor Award and has published in outlets such as Justice Quarterly, Social Networks, PLoS ONE, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Journal of Psychiatric Research, and Journal of Developmental and Life-Course Criminology.

License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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