Relation of police misconduct to authoritarianism

This study was conducted to determine whether authoritarianism and closely related personality traits such as conformity and value orthodoxy predict police misconduct. Law enforcement officers in the United States completed the Short-Form Dogmatism Scale and Jackson Personality Inventory. They also completed a self-report survey that recorded acts of misconduct for which they had been disciplined. Stepwise regression revealed 13% of the variance was explained by the variables responsibility and organization from the Jackson Personality Inventory. Authoritarianism, as measured by the Short-Form Dogmatism Scale, and closely related variables did not enter the equation as predictor variables.