Burnout and type a behaviour among police constables: a comparative study

Abstract

The most important aspect of the security and safety of the citizens of a country is the main responsibility of police. It is said that the most visible segment of any government is the uniformed policemen. Though the police department functioning is within the controls of ministry of home affairs; yet the state power and responsibility of the structure and dynamics lies with the Inspector General of police. Occupational stress can be defined as the physiological and emotional responses that occur when workers perceive an imbalance between their work demands and their capability and resources to meet these demands. The data was collected from 300 police constables (an equal number of male and female) in the age range of 25 to 40 years utilizing random sampling technique. Maslach Burnout Inventory by Maslach and Jackson (1986) and Type A Behaviour was assessed with the help of Pace of Life Index by Schafer (1978). Results were obtained by applying t-test which revealed that male and female police constables are significantly different in Burnout and Type A Behaviour. Female police constables were found to be high in Total Burnout than male police constables whereas Male police constables were found to have higher mean scores on Type A Behaviour than female police constables.