Power motivation, illness, coping strategies and psychological stress in police trainees

Abstract

Research suggests that there are substantial differences in the ways in which people cope with strcss, and that certain coping strategies buffer the degree of psychological and physical illness resulting from stress. Furthermore, personality, the situational contcxt and subjective appraisal of the situation are believed to mediate coping behaviour and its effectiveness. The present investigation reports the results of two studies of the relationship between coping behaviour and the personality disposition need .f.r power, taking into account the environment and the subject's appraisal of the situation. Highly power-motivated individuals were hypothesized to utilize emotion-focused coping strategies more than problem-focused coping strategies, to find the training environment stressful and anxietyprovoking, and to report more illness, than low power-motivated individuals. A 19-wcck policc academy training programme was used to measure these relationships in 34 police trainees. Thc results did not support all hypotheses. Findings are discussed with reference to sample characteristics, training intensity, and the empirical work in this area.

A Brief Exploratory Report of Coping Strategies Among Police Recruits During Academy Training

“…More specifically, the findings show statistically significant results indicating that recruits reported using more emotion-focused, problem-focused, and seeking social support coping strategies early during academy training but reported using fewer of these strategies over the course of the seven-month training period at Time 2 and Time 3, each approximately three months apart. Langan-Fox et al (1997) found that police recruits reported the beginning phases of academy training as most stressful. The present findings may support these observations given that recruits reported using more coping strategies during this period.…”

“…Langan-Fox et al. (1997) found that police recruits reported the beginning phases of academy training as most stressful.…”

“…Observing that police recruits reported the beginning phases of academy training as most stressful, Langan-Fox, Deery, and van Vliet (1997) conducted a longitudinal study assessing reported emotion-focused and problem-focused coping at two time points during academy training. They found that police recruits used more problem-focused coping than emotion-focused coping, based on data that showed a decrease in emotion-focused coping strategies from Time 1 to Time 2, although a slight increase in positive reappraisal, distancing, and escape-avoidance (all forms of emotion-focused coping) were reported at Time 3.…”

Human Factors Measurement for Future Air Traffic Control Systems

“…Motivation and stress measurement. Stress is regarded as an amorphous construct (Langan-Fox, 1996;Langan-Fox, Deery & van Vliet, 1997;Staal, 2004), which has been difficult to operationalize and measure. Researchers have claimed stress to be directly related to workload (Collet et al, 2009;Costa, 1995).…”

Work-Related Stressors and Health-Related Outcomes in Public Service

“…A promising stream of business and psychology research focuses on the link between individuals' motivational bases and their reaction to stressors (Kaplan et al, 2002;Langan-Fox, Deery, & Van Vliet, 1997), but theory-driven studies are nascent and empirical evidence is scant. Extending the research, we focus on a particular type of motivation and ask the following question: Does public service motivation (PSM) moderate the negative effects of workplace stressors on public employees' physical and mental wellbeing?…”