P~ychologicalReports, 1979, 4 5 , 554.
@ Psychological Reports 1979
IS STRESS HIGHER I N POLICE OFFICERS? A N EXPLORATORY STUDY DAVID LESTER AND STANLEY R. MINK Richard Stockton State College
A great deal has been written recenrly about stress and policemen (Kroes,
1976). Yet rarely in such studies is a comparison group utilized. Other men may well have as stressful an occupation. This study compared the stress reported by men working at a small police department in a semi-rural town with the stress experienced by office workers (of both sexes) in a factory. Fifteen office workers (M,,, = 30.9 yr., SD = 8.8) and 15 policemen (M,,, = 22.8 yr., SD = 6.6) were given a questionnaire to complete about the stresses that they experienced. Thirteen office workers and 14 policemen said that their work was affected by the job-related stresses. Only 7 of the office workers but 14 of the policemen said that the job-related stress affected them outside of work, a significant difference. Eight of the office workers and 11 of the policemen rated their job as stressful. Ten office workers and 8 policemen rated their health as good. Five office workers and 7 policemen reported frequent headaches. These differences are small. On a simple adjective check-list (Smith, et al., 1969), the policemen rated their jobs significantly more often (by $ f o r a 2 X 2 contingency table) as satisfying, good, respected, useful, and providing a sense of accomplishment and less often as routine, boring, frustrating, simple and endless. The groups did not differ in ratings of fascinating, creative, hot, pleasant, tiresome, healthful, challenging and on-your-feet. Thus, in this exploratory study, there appeared to be few differences between the stress of being a policeman in a small town and that of an office worker, though the samples were small and different in age. The policemen reported that their lives outside of work were affected more by job-related stress, but on the whole described their jobs as more satisfying. REFERENCES Springfield: Thomas, 1976. SMITH. P., KENDALL, L., & HULIN, C. The measurement of satisfaction in zuork and retirement. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1969.
KROES, W . Society's victim.
Accepted September 21, 1979.
@ Psychological Reports 1979
IS STRESS HIGHER I N POLICE OFFICERS? A N EXPLORATORY STUDY DAVID LESTER AND STANLEY R. MINK Richard Stockton State College
A great deal has been written recenrly about stress and policemen (Kroes,
1976). Yet rarely in such studies is a comparison group utilized. Other men may well have as stressful an occupation. This study compared the stress reported by men working at a small police department in a semi-rural town with the stress experienced by office workers (of both sexes) in a factory. Fifteen office workers (M,,, = 30.9 yr., SD = 8.8) and 15 policemen (M,,, = 22.8 yr., SD = 6.6) were given a questionnaire to complete about the stresses that they experienced. Thirteen office workers and 14 policemen said that their work was affected by the job-related stresses. Only 7 of the office workers but 14 of the policemen said that the job-related stress affected them outside of work, a significant difference. Eight of the office workers and 11 of the policemen rated their job as stressful. Ten office workers and 8 policemen rated their health as good. Five office workers and 7 policemen reported frequent headaches. These differences are small. On a simple adjective check-list (Smith, et al., 1969), the policemen rated their jobs significantly more often (by $ f o r a 2 X 2 contingency table) as satisfying, good, respected, useful, and providing a sense of accomplishment and less often as routine, boring, frustrating, simple and endless. The groups did not differ in ratings of fascinating, creative, hot, pleasant, tiresome, healthful, challenging and on-your-feet. Thus, in this exploratory study, there appeared to be few differences between the stress of being a policeman in a small town and that of an office worker, though the samples were small and different in age. The policemen reported that their lives outside of work were affected more by job-related stress, but on the whole described their jobs as more satisfying. REFERENCES Springfield: Thomas, 1976. SMITH. P., KENDALL, L., & HULIN, C. The measurement of satisfaction in zuork and retirement. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1969.
KROES, W . Society's victim.
Accepted September 21, 1979.
