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Autonomy and responsibility as a dual construct : Swedish police personnel’s stress, energy and motivation

Garcia, Danilo LU orcid ; Ryberg, Fredrik ; Andersson Arntén, Ann-Christine ; Archer, Trevor and Nima, Ali Al (2017) In International Journal of Police Science and Management 19(3). p.195-204
Abstract

Law enforcement demands self-management, intrinsic motivation, high energy levels and tolerance to stress. The concept of self-management might involve both autonomy and responsibility. Autonomy and responsibility, however, are often considered and measured as the same construct even thought at a conceptual level they can be seen as a separate dual construct. Our aims were: (a) to investigate the duality of the concept autonomy and responsibility; and (b) to investigate this hypothesized dual construct’s association with stress, and energy and motivation dimensions among Swedish police personnel. Employees (N = 617; males = 318, females = 292) from five Swedish police departments participated in the study. Autonomy and responsibility... (More)

Law enforcement demands self-management, intrinsic motivation, high energy levels and tolerance to stress. The concept of self-management might involve both autonomy and responsibility. Autonomy and responsibility, however, are often considered and measured as the same construct even thought at a conceptual level they can be seen as a separate dual construct. Our aims were: (a) to investigate the duality of the concept autonomy and responsibility; and (b) to investigate this hypothesized dual construct’s association with stress, and energy and motivation dimensions among Swedish police personnel. Employees (N = 617; males = 318, females = 292) from five Swedish police departments participated in the study. Autonomy and responsibility were assessed using one of the scales in the Learning Climate Questionnaire, motivation using a modified version of the Situational Motivation Scale, and stress and energy using the Stress/Energy Questionnaire. We conducted a confirmatory factor analysis and two structural equation models. The confirmatory factor analysis discerned two separate subscales that we defined as autonomy (e.g. ‘I feel free to organize my work the way I want to’) and responsibility (e.g. ‘We are not encouraged to take responsibility for our own learning’). Autonomy predicted both stress and energy, but only one dimension of motivation, that is, amotivation. Responsibility predicted energy and three of four motivations dimensions: intrinsic motivation, external regulation and amotivation. Hence, we suggest that the notion of autonomy and responsibility as a dual independent construct seems to be meaningful in the investigation of police personnel’s motivation, stress and energy.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Autonomy, dual model of autonomy and responsibility, energy, motivation, police personnel, responsibility, stress
in
International Journal of Police Science and Management
volume
19
issue
3
pages
10 pages
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • scopus:85114430479
ISSN
1461-3557
DOI
10.1177/1461355717714002
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
16136994-4dc9-441c-bd16-68e5a83b466e
date added to LUP
2021-10-04 12:01:39
date last changed
2024-03-08 19:32:10
@article{16136994-4dc9-441c-bd16-68e5a83b466e,
  abstract     = {{<p>Law enforcement demands self-management, intrinsic motivation, high energy levels and tolerance to stress. The concept of self-management might involve both autonomy and responsibility. Autonomy and responsibility, however, are often considered and measured as the same construct even thought at a conceptual level they can be seen as a separate dual construct. Our aims were: (a) to investigate the duality of the concept autonomy and responsibility; and (b) to investigate this hypothesized dual construct’s association with stress, and energy and motivation dimensions among Swedish police personnel. Employees (N = 617; males = 318, females = 292) from five Swedish police departments participated in the study. Autonomy and responsibility were assessed using one of the scales in the Learning Climate Questionnaire, motivation using a modified version of the Situational Motivation Scale, and stress and energy using the Stress/Energy Questionnaire. We conducted a confirmatory factor analysis and two structural equation models. The confirmatory factor analysis discerned two separate subscales that we defined as autonomy (e.g. ‘I feel free to organize my work the way I want to’) and responsibility (e.g. ‘We are not encouraged to take responsibility for our own learning’). Autonomy predicted both stress and energy, but only one dimension of motivation, that is, amotivation. Responsibility predicted energy and three of four motivations dimensions: intrinsic motivation, external regulation and amotivation. Hence, we suggest that the notion of autonomy and responsibility as a dual independent construct seems to be meaningful in the investigation of police personnel’s motivation, stress and energy.</p>}},
  author       = {{Garcia, Danilo and Ryberg, Fredrik and Andersson Arntén, Ann-Christine and Archer, Trevor and Nima, Ali Al}},
  issn         = {{1461-3557}},
  keywords     = {{Autonomy; dual model of autonomy and responsibility; energy; motivation; police personnel; responsibility; stress}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{195--204}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Police Science and Management}},
  title        = {{Autonomy and responsibility as a dual construct : Swedish police personnel’s stress, energy and motivation}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1461355717714002}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/1461355717714002}},
  volume       = {{19}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}