Police Officers' Job Satisfaction and Well-Being: The Influences of Flow
Abstract
Considerable attention has been given to the mental health outcomes of police officers, with prior research indicating that police officers’ well-being positively predicts job satisfaction. There remains debate, however, as to what best predicts job satisfaction. Some research has focused on organizational characteristics (e.g., supervision and salary), while other studies have indicated job characteristics (e.g., task identity and autonomy) to be important. Most of the prior research has failed to consider the influence of these variables at the same time and no research exists examining the influence of flow on police officer well-being. Flow has been found to be a strong predictor of job and life satisfaction in a number of other professions; this study sought to examine whether the benefits of flow extend to police work. Based on data collected from 227 police officers working in New York, results indicated that organizational characteristics was a better statistical predictor of global job satisfaction than demographic and job characteristics. Flow predicted job satisfaction even after controlling for demographic characteristics and job resources. In fact, work-related flow was the best single predictor of global job satisfaction. Lastly, when examining the association between global job satisfaction, flow and life satisfaction, global job satisfaction was the best predictor, although flow was also associated with life satisfaction even after controlling for job satisfaction. This study’s findings provide support for the importance of flow in police officers’ well-being and suggest the need for further research and intervention.
Subject Area
Mental health|Counseling Psychology
Recommended Citation
Juncaj, Sara, "Police Officers' Job Satisfaction and Well-Being: The Influences of Flow" (2017). ETD Collection for Pace University. AAI10635017.
https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/dissertations/AAI10635017
Remote User: Click Here to Login (must have Pace University remote login ID and password. Once logged in, click on the View More link above)