Relationship of anxiety to performance among police cadets in crime scene situations /
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| Other Authors: | , |
| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
1991.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Link to OAKTrust copy |
| Abstract: | This study was undertaken to investigate the relationship between anxiety and performance in a law enforcement situation. The primary aim of the research was to answer questions regarding the relationship between state anxiety and performance, trait anxiety and performance, state anxiety and trait anxiety, and the use of trait anxiety to enhance the relationship between state anxiety and performance. Various definitions and conceptualizations of arousal and anxiety were reviewed with an operational definition adopted for the present study which is based on a bidimensional concept of anxiety. The development of the arousal-performance relationship and related theories was reviewed. The participants, 63 police cadets from the Houston Police Academy, were given the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory before taking part in a crime scene evaluation exercise. The Crime Scene Evaluation Rating Scale was completed by police officer/instructors for each cadet, as they took part in five different crime role-play scenarios. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation, plot analysis, and analysis of variance. The results of the study indicated that there was no relationship between either state anxiety or trait anxiety and performance in the crime scenes. Even the use of trait anxiety as a mediating variable did not create a significant relationship between state anxiety and performance. The police cadets had much lower trait anxiety levels than college students, working adults, and experienced police officers. They also experienced a great deal of state anxiety before entering the crime scene situations. Trait anxiety and state anxiety were significantly correlated, but, at a level which suggests the police cadets may have been reacting to the scenarios as if they were in physical danger rather than in an evaluative situation. Thus, it would seem that the crime scene role-plays may closely mimic reality and they may be valid predictors of the cadet's behavior in the field. |
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| Item Description: | Typescript (photocopy). Vita. "Major subject: Counseling Psychology." |
| Physical Description: | ix, 102 leaves : illustrations ; 29 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references. |