MMPI R-S Scale as an Indicator of the Future Development of Cynicism in Police Applicants (From Psychological Services for Law Enforcement, P 3-9, 1986, J Reese amd H A Goldstein, eds. - See NCJ 104098)

• NCJ Number: 104099
• Author(s): T E Abbott
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 7 pages
• Corporate Author: US Dept of Justice; US Dept of Justice
• Sale Source: Superintendent of Documents, GPO; National Institute of Justice/NCJRS; National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: For microfiche, see NCJ-104098.

Annotation

Measures of 74 police officers from a medium-sized Southern California police department showed a correlation between subjects' cynicism levels and their defense styles in dealing with stress.

Abstract

Officer cynicism -- defined by Niederhoffer as 'a loss of faith in people, of enthusiasm for the higher ideals of police work, and of pride and integrity' -- was measured by the Police Cynicism Index, which categorized the officers as cynical or not cynical. The mode of officer defense style was measured by the Revised Repression-Sensitization (R-S) Scale, which is a self-report instrument composed of items from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. The repressive defense style tends to be nonreactive to stressful stimuli, and the sensitizing defense style is highly reactive to stressful stimuli, tending toward overexcitement and activity as a means of dealing with stress. Officers who scored low on cynicism tended to have a repressive defense style, and those who scored high on cynicism tended to have a sensitizing defense style. There was no significant correlation between R-S scores and any of the officer demographic variables. The R-S Scale could be used to screen out applicants who would become cynical toward police work over time. 6 data tables and 29 references.