The Semantic Content of the Values of Police Officers with Different Levels of Personal and Professional Fulfilment

Abstract

The article presents a brief overview of theoretical developments in the field of values of police officers in domestic and foreign studies. It is stated that in the field of psychology, personal values are often the object of research and usually have a variety of interpretations. Attention is focused on the fact that in the context of this work, values are understood as deeply rooted motives that form the semantic content of attitudes and standards of personal behaviour, which in the professional sense improves the specialist’s awareness of not only the importance of her/his professional activity but also the significance of her/his own contribution to its qualitative performance. The values of police officers play an important role in their effective psychological functioning and guide their further development. The aim of the article was to establish the semantic content of values and spheres of life in police officers with different levels of personal and professional fulfilment (PPF). To form the groups in the empirical study, the cluster analysis was applied by the k-means using data obtained with the help of the questionnaire of personal fulfilment (PF) by O. Shtepa and the questionnaire of professional self-fulfilment (PS) by O. Kokun. The data obtained in the study of PPF allowed dividing the total selection of police officers, which included 203 people, into three groups: the first group (low level of PPF) included 68 persons, the second group (high level of PPF) – 92 respondents, the third group (medium level of PPF) – 42 surveyed. It has been empirically established, that police officers who have a low level of PPF stand out by their striving for financial stability, and they need to have time for hobbies, which allows them to replenish resources. Police officers who obtain a high level of PPF take care of their image, they can creatively solve complex problems, they care about social development issues and strive for success in the profession. Professional and family life are important for police officers with a low level of PPF. Spheres of professional, family, and social life, the combination of which is optimal for qualified law enforcement officers, have become dominant within police officers with the high level of PPF. Police officers with the high level of PPF prefer to fully realize themselves in the profession, they want to be valued within it, to have a positive image, while devoting time to family and study