Conscientiousness, Work Family Conflict and Stress amongst Police Officers in Alice, South Africa

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to explore the relationship between work-family conflict, stress and conscientiousness amongst police officers. The study was undertaken at the South African Police Service station in Alice in the Eastern Cape and was based on a sample size of 101 (n=101) police officers out of 134 police officers. The study wanted to establish if there is a relationship between conscientiousness and work-family conflict, between conscientiousness and stress (work and family) and overall to establish whether conscientiousness and work-family conflict have a combined effect on stress. The sample demonstrated high levels of conscientiousness and moderate to low levels of work-family conflict, work stress and family stress. There is a negative relationship between work-family conflict and conscientiousness (r=-.20, p=.05) and work stress and conscientiousness (r=-.34, p=.001), but no significant relationship between conscientiousness and family stress (r= -.09, p=>.05). Work-family conflict contributes to both family (r=.42, p=.001) and work stress (r=.33, p=.001). Work stress and family stress are also positively correlated (r=.19, p =.05). Work-family conflict and conscientiousness interact to impact upon work stress F(2, 98) = 9.65, p <.001, R2 =.16, where those with higher levels of conscientiousness are better able to reduce the impact of workfamily conflict on work stress. Conscientiousness should be taken into consideration when screening police officers for service.