Cary D. Rostow

Cognitive ability predicts objectively measured counterproductive work behaviors.

Over the past 2 decades, increasing attention has been directed at the relationship between individual differences and counterproductive work behaviors (CWB). However, most of this research has focused on personality variables as potential predictors of CWB; surprisingly little research has investigated the link between counterproductivity and cognitive ability. This study presents the first focal investigation of the cognitive ability-CWB relationship. The authors measured organizational and interpersonal CWB using organizational records of formally recorded incidents (e.g., destruction of property, physical violence). In a predictive study, for a large sample of law enforcement job applicants, a standardized psychometric test of cognitive ability predicted CWB, whereas educational attainment did not.

The MMPI-2 L scale as a tool in police selection

The MMPI has been used extensively in the selection of law enforcement personnel. Because police officer candidates have been preselected, however, individuals with obvious mental disturbance have been screened out of the candidate pool before evaluation. It is necessary to search for more subtle variables to serve as predictors of unsatisfactory future performance. The L scale is a subtle variable which can suggest potential for problematic behavior. The value of the L scale in the selection process is discussed.

The Personality Assessment Inventory as a Selection Device for Law Enforcement Personnel

The Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) is a recent development in psychological assessment which has attracted attention because of the breadth of its coverage and the fact that it includes a four-point scale of item agreement. Matrix, Incorporated, is a psychological assessment center that specializes in the assessment of law enforcement personnel. Matrix has collected performance variables on 800 police officers who had taken the PAI prior to being hired. Correlational analysis was performed and there was a significant effect in the data. Discussion focuses upon the criteria in relation to the PAI variables, particularly with regard to aggression, antisocial characteristics and the validity scales. The data clearly demonstrate that the PAI has good potential for the selection of law enforcement officers.

Problematic police performance and the personality assessment inventory

A relative newcomer to personality assessment in the area of law enforcement is the Personality Assessment Inventory, or PAI. Earlier MMPI research in the area of police selection has focused upon antisocial behavior, control of aggression, and validity indices, particularly the L scale. In this study T scores for 800 male and female police officer candidates on the PAI scales Negative Impression (NIM), Positive Impression (PIM), Antisocial-Antisocial Behaviors (ANTA), Antisocial-Egocentricity (ANTE), and Antisocial-Stimulus Seeking (ANTS) were used as predictors of the criterion variables Insubordination, Excessive Citizen Complaints, and Neglect of Duty. Highly significant coefficients were obtained for ANTE as a predictor of Insubordination and Excessive Citizen Complaints. For Neglect of Duty, two significant coefficients were obtained, one for ANTS and another for NIM. Discussion centered on the fact that egocentricity is a predictor of Insubordination and Excessive Citizen Complaints, and Neglect of Duty is related to stimulus seeking.

The MMPI-2 L Scale, reporting uncommon virtue, and predicting police performance.

The present study investigated the use of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)-2 L (Lie) scale in the preemployment selection of police officers. In a prior article, Weiss, Davis, Rostow, and Kinsman (2003) found that high L scale scores are associated with a number of performance problems in law enforcement officers. These investigators recommended a L scale raw score cutoff of 8 when making hiring decisions. The present study sought to explore the usefulness of this recommendation by analyzing data from 4348 officers who had taken the MMPI-2 as a condition of preemployment and had follow-up data on performance provided by their supervisors. Results indicated that officers with L scale raw scores of 8 or higher had significantly more performance problems than those who had scores of 7 or below. Similar results were obtained when cut points of 7 and 9 were used. These results were robust insofar as they remained significant when other factors potentially related to the L scale, particularly level of education, ethnicity, and scores on the 10 MMPI-2 Clinical Scales, were controlled for in the analyses. Implications of these findings for police psychological evaluations are discussed.

Predictive Validity of the MMPI-2 PSY-5 Scales and Facets for Law Enforcement Officer Employment Outcomes

Several Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory—2 Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY-5) scales and facets showed small to medium levels of predictive validity in identifying law enforcement officer applicants who would later be forced to leave their agencies (n = 436 still employed, n = 164 forced to leave agency). The PSY-5 measures were moderately to strongly associated with measures of positive impression management (L and K scales), although the direction of these associations sometimes varied for facets of the same PSY-5 scale (e.g., Disconstraint, Introversion/Low Positive Emotionality). The predictive effects of the PSY-5 were often observed only in officers without significant levels of impression management (L ≤ 55T, K ≤ 65T). The PSY-5 scales and facets were not especially useful for predicting on-the-job misconduct.

Compulsive traits and police officer performance

As a general rule, pathologies tend to impair job performance. In a study involving performance criteria and the Personality Assessment Inventory in a sample of Louisiana police officers (N=800), OCD characteristics correlated significantly in a negative direction with several performance criteria, such as involvement in an on-duty or off-duty at fault moving violation, number of on-duty or off-duty at fault moving violations, any citizen complaints regarding unprofessional conduct, number of unprofessional conduct, and accusation in any way of racially offensive conduct, behavior, verbalization, or complaints. It has been found that the traits of obsessive-compulsive disorder, in moderation, may actually improve performance in police officers. This agrees with the Yerkes-Dodson law, which states that peak performance occurs when a person experiences mild to moderate levels of stress.

The Personality Assessment Inventory Borderline, Drug, and Alcohol Scales as predictors of overall performance in police officers: a series of exploratory analyses

Previous studies have established the utility of self-report personality inventories in the pre-employment screening of police officers. The present study therefore sought to explore the relationship between the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) Borderline, Drug, and Alcohol Scales and performance as a police officer. The PAI results of 632 police officers who took the test as part of pre-employment screening procedures were used in discriminant function and multiple regression analyses to determine whether or not these scales are useful in the pre-employment screening of police officers. These scales did not predict performance as a police officer when the entire sample of 632 was used. However, the Borderline Negative Relations subscale combined with the Drug scale of the PAI were marginally predictive of the 132 poorest performing officers in the sample when an exploratory stepwise multiple regression model was used. The implications of these findings for police selection are discussed.

An investigation into the usefulness of the MMPI and MMPI-2 in municipal and state police candidate selection

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the later revision (MMPI-2) have been two of the most frequently employed instruments in the selection of law enforcement officers (Bartol, 1996). In this study, the following three sets of data were collected and analyzed: municipal law enforcement officer candidates tested with the MMPI, municipal law enforcement officer candidates tested with the MMPI-2, and state police trooper candidates tested with the MMPI-2. These three data sets were evaluated for their effectiveness at predicting “pass/fail” status on police candidate interview using multiple linear regression. A combination of subscales were found to be associated with classification as either pass or fail on interview.

Law enforcement officer seniority and PAI variables in psychological fitness for duty examinations

Sixty-two police officers were administered the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) during employer referred psychological Fitness for Duty Examinations (FFDEs). PAI scores were analyzed as a function of the length of time the officers had worked within law enforcement occupations. PAI subtest scales ARD, ARD-P, ARD-T and DEP scores all produced significant positive correlations between both the amount of time spent on the current police job and the total time served as a police officer within a bivariate Pearsonr correlation matrix. Implications for an understanding of psychometric test results within the FFDE context and the evolution of law enforcement officer personality patterns are discussed.