Impact of the police professional identity on burnout

• In Event: Police Stress, Burnout, and Wellness

Abstract

Stress researchers have long recognized that the consequences of stressors are highly conditional upon relevance to the self-conception of individuals experiencing them. Given that work is a central domain by which we identify the modern self, and the unique occupational characteristics of policing, it is argued that the strength of the police identity is likely to have substantial implications for the experience of stressors experienced by officers. Using data collected from a survey of police officers in the Pacific Northwest (N=109), the proposed study will assess the degree to which prominence and relative importance of the officer identity, and work centrality, interact with occupational stressors to influence burnout. Implications of the findings for theory, research and practice will be discussed.

Author

• Lonnie M. Schaible, University of Colorado, Denver