Emotional Intelligence and Performance of Police Officers at Gulu Central Police Station, Uganda

Abstract

The study examined the effect of EI on performance of police officers at Gulu Central Police station. Specifically, the study addressed: the effect of self-awareness and self-regulation in recruitment and selection on performance of Police officers, the effect of motivation and social skills in task assignment on performance of police officers, and the effect of empathy in training on performance of police officers. The study adopted a cross sectional descriptive study design with only quantitative approaches. The study used a sample size of 155 respondents. The items/constructs used in this research were measured on a five point Likert Scale. Factor analysis and principle component analysis were used to test whether the constructs were appropriate for the study. Pairwise correlation matrix was used to test for multicollinearity of the independent variables. Multiple linear regression model was used to examine the effect EI on the performance of police officers. The findings revealed that self-awareness and self-regulation in recruitment and selection had a positive and significant effect on performance of police officers in Gulu City Police Station at 5% significance level (B=0.461, P-value=0.001). Empathy in training was found to have a positive and significant effect on the performance of police officers in Gulu City Police Station (B=0.921, P-value=0.000). The study also found that motivation and social skills in task assignment had a positive and significant effect on the performance of police officers (B=0.586, P-value=0.000). It can be concluded that the effect of emotional intelligence on the performance of police officers at Gulu City Police Station was positive and significant. The study recommends that UPF improves knowledge dissemination on what EI is and its importance to the police officers.