| This quantitative study examined stress factors perceived by law enforcement personnel to determine the existence of differences between perceptions of supervisors and line officers regarding types of stressors, intensity of identified types, and mitigation of identified types by leadership style. Usable surveys were collected from 30 supervisors and 130 officers assigned to a large law enforcement agency in Southern California. Perception of overall stress was not statistically significant, F (1,158) = 2.01, p = .16, alpha = .05. The effect of leadership style was not statistically significant, F (4,155) = 1.24, p = .30, alpha = .05. The intensity of the types of stressors could not be assessed due to missing data. Detailed examination of individual stress categories revealed statistically significant differences for only 30% of the categories of stressors in general and less than 10% when mitigated by leadership style. The lack of significant differences between overall perceptions of supervisors and line officers is contrary to the findings in much of the literature. This contradiction in findings indicates a need for continued research on this topic, including studies of a larger scale and studies using qualitative methods to explore underlying reasons for the perceived differences. |
