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Policing the Pandemic: Factors Associated with Police Officers’ Work Stress in Taiwan

Sat, Nov 16, 11:00am to 12:20pm, Foothill E - 2nd Level

Abstract

Research has consistently discovered that work stress negatively affects an employer’s job satisfaction, commitment, and performance quality. Due to the nature of police work, police officers have been encountering an increasingly complex series of stressors over the past decades, such as constant media coverage, continued exposure to the dark side of society, and challenging protests during turbulent times. In particular, the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic changed the work modality for almost everyone, including police officers. The purpose of this research is to investigate factors associated with police officers’ perceptions of work stress during the pandemic, given that they are part of the frontline responders. A comparison of stressors between regular police work and police work during the pandemic was also conducted. Data for the current study was collected from surveying Taiwanese police officers in 2020. SEM analysis of 628 responded police officers found that supervisory support and media consumption were significant predictors of both pandemic and general work stress. In addition, family support, social networks, and social cynicism were only significant for general police work. Findings derived from the current study will produce implications for police practices, as well as enrich our knowledge of work stress.

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