Police Personnel Affective Profiles: Differences in Perceptions of the Work Climate and Motivation

Abstract

The affective profile model was used to investigate individual differences in police personnel perceptions about the working climate and its influences on motivation. The Positive Affect, Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) was used to assign police personnel, sworn and non-sworn (N = 595), to four affective profiles: self-fulfilling, low affective, high affective, and self-destructive. The work climate was assessed using the Learning Climate Questionnaire (Management Relations and Style, Time, Autonomy and Responsibility, Team Style, Opportunities to Develop, Guidelines on How to do the Job, and Contentedness). Motivation was evaluated using a modified version (to refer specifically to the individual's work situation) of the Situational Motivation Scale (intrinsic motivation, external regulation, identified regulation, and amotivation). Self-fulfilling individuals scored higher on all work climate dimensions compared to the other three groups. Compared to low positive affect profiles, individuals with profiles of high positive affect scored higher in intrinsic motivation and identified regulation. Self-destructive individuals scored higher in amotivation. Different aspects of the work climate were related to each motivation dimension among affective profiles. Police personnel may react to their work environment depending on their affective profile. Moreover, the extent to which the work influences police personnel's motivation is also related to the affective profile of the individual.

Understanding Group and Leader (UGL) trainers' personality characteristics and affective profiles

“…The comparison group consisted of 104 Swedish Chiefs of Police, 59 men and 45 women. This data was collected, also using an online survey, separetly for another study and is detailed somewhere else (Andersson Arntén et al, in press ). While the UGL-trainers answered to all instruments detailed next, the only common measures with the comparison group was affectivity.…”

Autonomy and responsibility as a dual construct

“…intrinsic motivation) and for their own good (i.e. identified regulation) express energetic states such as feeling active and sharp (Andersson Arnten et al, 2016; see also Ryan and Deci, 2000; Dickinson, 1995). By contrast, those who see it as a way to gain rewards or to avoid punishment (i.e.…”

“…external regulation) and lack contingency between their actions and their outcomes (i.e. amotivation), express stress in the form of feeling ineffective and pressed (Andersson Arnten et al, 2016). Additionally, the concept of self-management involves both autonomy and responsibility, which among police employees is closely related to being intrinsically motivated and to both high energy levels and low stress levels (Andersson Arnten et al, 2016).…”

“…amotivation), express stress in the form of feeling ineffective and pressed (Andersson Arnten et al, 2016). Additionally, the concept of self-management involves both autonomy and responsibility, which among police employees is closely related to being intrinsically motivated and to both high energy levels and low stress levels (Andersson Arnten et al, 2016). Autonomy and responsibility, however, are often considered and measured as the same construct even thought at a conceptual level they can be seen as a separate dual construct (e.g.…”

“…The aim of this study was twofold: (a) to investigate the duality of the concept autonomy and responsibility; and (b) to investigate this hypothesized dual construct’s association with stress, and energy and motivation dimensions among Swedish police personnel. In this endeavour, we used one questionnaire that has been implemented in several different studies to measure autonomy and responsibility as one single construct, namely, the Learning Climate Questionnaire (Bartram et al, 1993; see also Andersson Arnten, et al, 2016; Garcia and Archer, 2012; Mikkelsen et al, 1998; Mikkelsen and Grønhaug, 2012). We first conducted a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to test our hypothesis about a dual construct of autonomy and responsibility.…”