Peculiarities of Decision Making by Police Officers with Different Levels of Professional Self-Fulfilment

Abstract

The research found that decision making within the professional activities of the police is the key to their success, an indicator of the effectiveness of their duties performance. It is appealed that decision making in critical situations requires a high level of individual’s self-fulfilment, which reduces stress and encourages police officers to solve the problem. The aim of the article is to identify and substantiate the relationship of personal characteristics with decision making factors in police officers with different levels of professional self-fulfilment. The sample of the empirical research consisted of 84 employees of special purpose police units. The groups of police officers with different levels of professional self-fulfilment were formed using the questionnaire of “Type and Level of Professional Self-Fulfilment”. The research involved the usage of psychodiagnostic techniques, including: the Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire, the Personal Decision Making Factors Questionnaire and the Big Five Personality Questionnaire. The results of the research showed that the behaviour of police officers with a high level of professional self-fulfilment is characterized by prosociality and responsibility due to the peculiarities of decisions they do not postpone them and do not lose valuable time, considering all possible alternatives. This characterizes them as capable to take risk if the situation requires it. On the other hand, police officers with a low level of professional self-fulfilment tend to shift the problem to other people, they often demonstrate independent behaviour and take responsibility for decision making, but this is accompanied by doubts and fears about their rationality.