Locus of control, type A behaviours and coping style as predictors of police performance : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University

Abstract

The current study explores the relationship between individual differences, related to the human stress response, and performance of Police Recruits in training at the Royal New Zealand Police College (N = 114). Data was collected during training sessions on stress management in Policing using scales from the Pressure Management Indicator (PMI) for Type A behaviour, Locus of Control and the use of positive coping. These variables were regressed against three performance data sets. Performance on two of the three dependant variables were found to be significantly and positively related to the PMI measures of the independent variables. Hierarchical regression analyses were carried out with mental ability, gender and age controlled for and predictive relationships were found for each of the dependant performance variables also, the strongest relationship being for overall Wing performance, variation in which was 68% accounted for by the model. Entry of the three PMI scales as a block explained significant unique variance in each performance measure over and above the variance explained by GMA. Further research is suggested to further explore the utility of measures of hardiness and stress tolerance for Police selection.