ABSTRACT
People have conflicting stereotypes about police officers and their personality traits. Some are convinced that police officers are responsible, dedicated guardians of society, while others are certain that police officers are authoritarian individuals who are prone to abusing their authority (Yarmey, 1990). The assumption underlying both of these stereotypes is that police officers as a group are characterized by the same personality traits. This assumption is also reflected in the traditional approach to studying police personality, which postulates there is a “modal police personality” that characterizes police officers and distinguishes them from other members of the population (Lefkowitz, 1975).
