myAIPMPredictors of job satisfaction among police officers: a test of goal-setting theory
Ismail Cenk Demirkol | Police Practice and Research
Abstract
"The present study aims to explain the antecedents of police officers’ job satisfaction within the framework of Locke and Latham’s goal-setting theory. Specifically, it is suggested that goal difficulty, goal specificity, feedback, self-efficacy, goal commitment, and participation in goal-setting enhance police officers’ job satisfaction. Hypotheses are tested with data from 1970 police officers working at three different police departments. The results indicate that goal specificity, feedback, and participation are significant and positive predictors of job satisfaction. However, the results indicate no significant relationship between goal difficulty, self-efficacy, and job satisfaction. Overall, the results suggest goal-setting theory could be used to enhance job satisfaction among police officers. Practical implications and future research directions are discussed.
Emotions and attitudes experienced at work are important since they are related to work and non-work behavior (Landy & Conte, 2013). Among those, job satisfaction is one of the most examined work-related emotions in the industrial/organizational psychology (Judge & Klinger, 2008). Locke (1976) defines job satisfaction as ‘pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job or job experiences’ (p. 1300). The existing research suggests that job satisfaction is related to job performance, employee turnover, absenteeism, health and the well-being of employees (Landy & Conte, 2013; Spector, 2012). The research in policing shows that job satisfaction is related to turnover intention (Allisey et al., 2014; Brough & Frame, 2004), emotional exhaustion and efficiency (Manzoni & Eisner, 2006), alcohol use disorders (Davey et al., 2001), and engagement to their work (Brunetto et al., 2012).
Although job satisfaction is related to the effectiveness and well-being of individuals (Judge & Klinger, 2008), it has received limited attention in the area of policing. Researchers argue that the issue has not received much attention in policing (Bennett, 1997; Dantzker, 1994; Miller et al., 2009; Reiner & Zhao, 1999). According to Dantzker and Surrette (1996), only 34 studies on the subject of police job satisfaction were published between 1974 and 1993. Further, much of the research in policing focuses on the relationship of demographic characteristics of police officers as predictors of job satisfaction (Miller et al., 2009; Reiner & Zhao, 1999).
Thus, the purpose of the present study is to address the causes of police officers’ job satisfaction by focusing on the work itself within the framework of the goal-setting theory, which will be discussed in the next section. The reason for this preference is that most researchers in previous police research examined other factors rather than work itself as the cause of job satisfaction. Thus, the significance of this study for researchers and practitioners is twofold. First, this study will shed some light on the possible effects of work itself on police officers’ job satisfaction. Second, this study will test a model that explains the causes of job satisfaction among police officers. In this paper, I introduce our guiding theoretical model and arguments that support it. Then, I apply the theoretical framework to the data. Finally, I present the results and conclusions that emerge from this study."
Read more
Predictors of job satisfaction among police officers: a test of goal-setting theory, Ismail Cenk Demirkol, Police Practice and Research, 2020