NCJ Number
180023
Journal
International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice Volume: 23 Issue: 1 Dated: Spring 1999 Pages: 1-15
Date Published
1999
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This article examines a cross-cultural comparison of police personality.
Abstract
The article attempts to determine the role of culture in determining police personality. The Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire along with a demographic questionnaire was administered to 619 police officers in Scotland, London and the United States. There was a significant and distinct personality pattern in all the cultures examined. However, the shared characteristics, as well as some that were not shared by all groups, varied by culture. Thus, police personality appears to have both fixed and malleable characteristics and to be partially determined by cultural roles. Cross-culturally, police were high in Boldness, Dominance, Impulsiveness, Emotional Stability, Self Discipline and Tension. The cultural distinctions in police personality showed that the United States police differ in having normative scores on Imagination and Intelligence in contrast to the English and Scottish, who were high in both of those areas. Tables, references