Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the personality differences among police recruits with regards to the outcome of being recommended for hire, or not hired by the police department. Methodology. Using data retrieved from recruits' performance on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2, a logistic regression of measurement factors was completed, in order to assess for the factors that lead to individual's not being recommended for hire by police departments as well as those who are recommended for hire. The contributory factors of gender, assessment scores and combination of scores were analyzed. The recommendation or lack of recommendation was the DV while the scores on the assessment tool or the MMPI-II was the IV. Specifically, the IV's in this study included all of the clinical scales of the MMPI-II as well as the PK or PTSD scale and the ANX or anxiety scale. Results. Overall, the results of this study indicated that those applicants whose scores on the MMPI-2 fell within the normal ranges were more likely to be recommended for hire, while those whose scores fell outside the normal ranges, were likely not to be recommended for hire. The analyses also showed that although there were such a small number of females applying during these years, the women overall did tend to score higher on the Mf scales. The hypothesis regarding the ANX, and PK scales (that an applicant will not be recommended for hire if the scores on this scale are above the norm), and their effects on the recommendation of an individual applicant and their effect on the recommendation process, was not statistically significant. When using a logistic regression to predict recommendations, it was found that if the score is high on the L, and Pd scale the individual is 1.064 and 1.132 times, respectively, more likely not to be recommended for hire. The results for an ANOVA preformed on the L scale also proved to be statistically significant p,.005.