The Effects of Identity Conflict and Identity Salience on Job Satisfaction and Vocational Connectedness in Minority Law Enforcement Officers
Abstract
Law enforcement agencies are having trouble recruiting, hiring, and maintaining ethnic minority officers. Although the Department of Justice identified multiple issues minorities face while pursuing and engaging in the profession, there have been few efforts to determine the source of these problems and how to overcome them. In a stressful profession that doesn’t historically align with being a minority, the difference between staying with that job or going to another one may lie in how connected to the job and how satisfied with that job minority law enforcement feel. The current study explores how ethno-racial and police identity salience and identity conflict affect job satisfaction and vocational connectedness. I found that minority officers with higher ethno-racial identity had more identity conflict. The relationship between ethno-racial identity salience and job satisfaction and vocational connectedness was mediated by identity conflict. Also, individuals with higher police identity salience had higher job satisfaction and vocational connectedness and those with higher identity conflict had lower job satisfaction and vocational connectedness. These results show the importance identity plays in job satisfaction and vocational connectedness, particularly in a profession with a strong vocational culture.
Subject Area
Social psychology|Psychology|Criminology
Recommended Citation
James, Kityara U’nae, "The Effects of Identity Conflict and Identity Salience on Job Satisfaction and Vocational Connectedness in Minority Law Enforcement Officers" (2023). ETD Collection for University of Texas, El Paso. AAI30422446.
https://scholarworks.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI30422446