PERCEPTIONS OF THEIR OWN PROFESSIONAL FUTURE IN POLICE OFFICERS WITH DIFFERENT LEVELS OF PERSONALITY’S FULFILLMENTITY

Abstract

The results of theoretical and empirical research of police officers’ perceptions of their own professional future are presented. Theoretical research has shown that the phenomenon of professional future in the context of time perspective is quite common in the works of scientists, but quite a few works are devoted to the analysis of time perspective of the future for police officers. The perspective of professional future in time implies a conscious understanding of the goals of their own activities and their place in the profession, presupposes from the police the ability to plan their future, the desire to succeed and the desire to improve their work. The aim of the article is an empirical study of the peculiarities of ideas about their own professional future in the long run in police officers with different levels of personality’s fulfillmentity. The total sample size of the study was 97 police officers. With the help of O. Shtepa’s “Questionnaire of Рersonality’s Fulfillmentity” using the cluster procedure on the principle of k - means, we formed three groups of police officers: with low, medium and high level of personality’s fulfillmentity. A low level of personality’s fulfillmentity was found in 25 people, a medium level of personality’s fulfillmentity was diagnosed in 43 people, and a high level of personality’s fulfillmentity was found in 29 people. Respondents with a low level of personality’s fulfillmentity (first group) and its high level (second group) were involved in further research. To achieve the aim of the study was used “Questionnaire of Time Perspective” by F. Zimbardo. It is empirically established that police officers with a low level of personality’s fulfillmentity are characterized by a positive perception of past experience. At the same time, these subjects in the perception of past events tend to consider them to some extent uncontrollable and beyond their control. Police officers of the first group are less motivated to succeed in the future, more focused on enjoying the present than the prospects of success in the future. Police officers with a high level of personality’s fulfillmentity are highly organized, ambitious, and focused on achieving success in the future. They are not prone to negative feelings about the past, satisfied with the present and, at the same time, more important for these subjects is planning for the future and achieving success in the future. It should be noted that excessive focus on the implementation of their plans and goals can cause feelings of stress, as such behavior is always accompanied by a sense of lack of time and fear of not having time to complete tasks.