Exploring the Police Personality 63justice system lead to personality and attitude changes in police officers. While sonic
believe that one of these scenarios is dominant, other researchers contend that these
influences can be interdependent. There is a growing controversy surrounding how
to establish whether an individual is suitable for police work.
Researchers maintain that the considerable demands routinely placed on police
officers require persons who are not only free from psychopathology, but that are
very well adjusted, with good coping skills (Beutler, Nussbaum, & Meredith, 1988).
Police officers encounter life-threatening situations, aggressive offenders, and have
to answer to the community as well as to their supervisors. It is suggested that officers
face the worst of society and then have to handle the most delicate of human crises
with sensitivity. The unique stressors that officers face make emotional strengths
and weaknesses the focus of screening procedures for officer candidates.
The research indicates that psychological assessment tools have been increasingly
utilized in the past 2 decades as a means to screen and select police officer candidates
(Beutler et al., 1988). The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI
and MMPI-2) is the psychological test that is most commonly used as a screening
device in police officer selection (Beutler et al., 1988; Cortina et al., 1992; Kornfeld,
1995; J. J. Murphy, 1972). The MM PI is primarily a test of psychopathology and is
used most successfully when testing for this purpose (Graham, 1993). The literature
suggests that these instruments are employed to determine which candidates are the
most likely to fail during training or probationary periods (Cortina et al., 1992;
Inwald, 1988; J. J. Murphy, 1972). In addition, they are used to indicate which
candidates are most likely to use excessive force or misuse weapons while on duty.
Other researchers maintain that efforts to correlate MMPI scores to job performance
have not been effective (Cortina et al., 1992). By identifying personality styles and
any psychopathology, police departments hope to save time and money as well as
avoid any negative publicity or litigation that would ensue following an excessive
force claim.
Cortina et al. (1992) state that police officer candidates exhibit a distinguish-
able pattern on the MMPI. For example, these candidates' validity scales, which
measure the accuracy of the test, usually show defensiveness or an unwillingness to
acknowledge distress. The Psychopathic Deviate (Pd) scale is frequently elevated.
Interestingly, the elevation of the Pd scale is typically seen in individuals who en-
gage in criminal behavior. Interpretive possibilities for an elevated Pd score include:
aggressive or assaultive behavior, substance abuse, or poor tolerance of boredom.
A study by Kornfeld (1995), in which the MMPI-2 was administered to 84 police
officer candidates, indicated low scores on scales 0 and 2. Male candidates had a low
scale 5, while female candidates had an elevated scale 5. For a nonclinical sample,
low scale 2 scores suggest individuals who are less likely to worry, to have problems
reaching decisions, and to worry about being rejected (Graham, 1993; Kornfeld,
1995). They are also more likely to be self-confident. A low scale 0 on the MMPI
denotes an individual who is sociable, extroverted, and friendly (Graham, 1993;