Perception of police officer effectiveness in China: Does organisational support matter?

Abstract

The primary objective of this study is to examine the influence of officers’ perceptions of organisational support on their perceived effectiveness in China. The study also examined demographic differences in how Chinese police officers perceived the support they receive from the police organisation. To achieve these objectives, the present study surveyed and analysed data obtained from 271 officers who were conveniently selected from one of the two major national police universities in China. Findings from the analysis revealed that officers’ perception of organisational support and their effectiveness were unrelated. However, findings indicated significant demographic differences in perceived organisational support. Officers’ rank, department and the location of their agencies predicted perceptions of organisation support. Policy implications of the study findings are discussed.

Keywords

Policing police effectiveness organisation support China

Introduction

The primary objective of the present study is to examine the influence of perception of organisational support on officers’ perceived effectiveness¹ in China. Additionally, the study examines demographic differences in officers’ perception of organisational support in China. In recent times, the influence of organisational characteristics on employees’ work habits has been extensively studied (Adebayo, 2005; Boateng, 2014; Eder and Eisenberger, 2008; Shoss et al., 2013; Tankebe, 2010). Collectively, these studies have concluded that employees model their behaviours based on their perceptions of available supports in the organisation. Organisational and psychological studies have specifically demonstrated that employees who believed the organisation cares for their emotional and social needs as well as their well-being tend to perform effectively at work (Bowling and Mitchel, 2011; Eisenberger et al., 1986). Similarly, the few police studies that have examined the relationship between organisational support and officers’ effectiveness have observed a significant positive relationship between the two variables (Boateng, 2014; Gillet et al., 2013). Thus, police organisational support is largely considered a booster for effective performance.

The present study supplements previous efforts in two ways. First, we analysed field data collected in China to understand better the relationship between organisational support and officers’ work behaviour, and to provide a recent evidence to support such a relationship. Second, findings from the present study will enhance our knowledge on the explanatory power of socio-demographic characteristics in understanding variations of officers’ perceptions of organisational support. This will help to tailor efforts directed at improving supports for officers.

Policing in China: Structure and contextual review

It is nearly four decades since China adopted the open-door policy to allow foreign businesses to operate in China, and since then the country has experienced remarkable social and economic transformation. The policy, which was adopted by Deng Xiaoping in 1978, changed the phase of policing in the country in several significant ways (Dai, 2008). For instance, the passage of the 1995 Police Law was a landmark effort to professionalise policing in China. The law was an attempt by the Chinese government to control and regulate policing in the country (Sun and Wu, 2010). The Chinese police, according to Jiao (2001), have created a mobile patrol programme relying upon the use of marked patrol vehicles, adopted rapid response strategies with the help of modern techniques, and increasingly employed a network-based crime information system, all of which indicate that the police force in China has become more modernised and professional. Evidently, professionalisation and modernisation in Chinese policing is one part of the greater social, political and economic development that started in the late 1970s and fundamentally changed the landscape of the country. However, it should be noted that police reform in China was a response to rising crime rates (Boateng and Wu, 2018; Wu and Makin, 2019; Cao and Dai, 2001) and increasing challenges that the police were facing in exercising effective social control in the new social context characterised by greater population mobility (Sun and Wu, 2010).

Like few other countries, China has multiple agencies that perform the challenging task of keeping society safe. Several agencies come together to form the Chinese police system. These agencies include the police in public security organisations, the police in state security organisations, the police in correctional facilities and the judicial police in the people’s courts and procuratorate (Ma, 1997; Sun et al., 2010). Each of these policing agencies performs specialised law enforcement duties. Nonetheless, according to Dai (2008), the public security police have the most interaction with citizens. The public security police force is centrally organised and divided into several administrative levels: the ministry of public security, provincial-level police departments, city/county-level police departments and neighbourhood-level police stations. Officers in this police organisation wear a common uniform irrespective of location, and all its precincts and divisions nationwide follow the same rules and regulations about enforcement procedure, recruitment standards, training requirements, rank structures, promotion criteria and benefits (Ma, 2005; Wu et al., 2016). It is noteworthy that the local governments exercise strong control over police forces by determining policing priorities, allocating budget and conducting personnel management (Sun et al., 2010). In 2007, the total number of public security police personnel in China was approximately 1.8 million (Huang, 2009), which yielded a police–population ratio of 13.8 per 10,000 citizens. This ratio is significantly lower than those in most Western countries. For example, the United States and Germany have a police–population ratio of approximately 30 per 10,000 citizens, the United Kingdom’s is about 26 per 10,000 and Japan’s ratio is around 22 (Huang, 2009).

Given the tremendous positive changes that policing in China has experienced in the past decades, one would expect nothing less than effective policing in the country. Nevertheless, police still have a performance deficit and constantly face public backlash for being ineffective in controlling crime and serving people (Wu et al., 2016). The crime rate has continued to increase, even after the introduction of community policing philosophy as part of the sweeping changes that took place following the enactment of the Police Law (Cao and Dai, 2001; Cheong and Wu, 2014; Liu, 2005; Wong, 2004). According to Chinese police scholars, this level of ineffectiveness has strained the relationship between the police and the public, and has caused citizens to develop high-levels of distrust for the Chinese police (Wong, 2004). Given this background of police ineffectiveness and its associated problems, it will be interesting to investigate how the officers think about their performance in discharging the mandate placed on them by the Police Law of 1995 and its subsequent revisions.

Theoretical framework: Organisational support theory and its relationship to job performance

The key theoretical argument made in the present study is derived from the organisational support theory, which argues that employees’ work outcomes are directly related to their beliefs about the level of support received from the organisation (Eder and Eisenberger, 2008; Eisenberger et al., 1997; Shore and Shore, 1995). According to proponents of this theory, employees develop their perceptions of support to meet their socioemotional needs such as approval, respect and liking, and to determine the organisation’s readiness to reward increased efforts made on its behalf (Eisenberger et al., 1986; Rhoades and Eisenberger, 2002; Shore and Shore, 1995). Through the mechanism of social exchange (Blau, 1964) and reciprocity (Gouldner, 1960), higher perception of organisational support (POS) would obligate employees to treat their organisation favourably, which is manifested by increased job performance, attendance, punctuality, and loyalty. Stated differently, if employees have a favourable perception of support from the organisation, they inadvertently develop a sense of indebtedness, resulting in a feeling of obligation to repay the organisation (Shore and Wayne, 1993; Wayne et al., 1997).

As Eisenberger et al. (2001) explained, the reasons why employees are motivated to act in accordance with the norm of reciprocity is that they intend to ‘maintain the positive self-image of those who repay debts, avoid the social stigma associated with the reciprocity norm’s violation, and obtain favourable treatment from the organisation’ (2001: 42). In contrast to employees’ positive response to the favourable treatment by the organisation, employees may also act in a way against the interests of the organisation if they develop low POS due to the feeling that their inputs are not considered and that their well-beings are not adequately catered for by the organisation (Eisenberger et al., 1997). Eisenberger et al. (1990) believed that employees’ negative responses are manifested by both in-role behaviours – low job performance, high absence, lateness and turnover – and extra-role behaviours – reduced actions that are beyond the scope of duty but benefit the organisation.

Empirical studies testing the key propositions of organisational support theory in management and psychology have not only been numerous but have also found constant evidence suggesting that employees’ work outcomes positively relate to their perceptions of the support they receive (Armeli et al., 1998; Bowling and Mitchel, 2011; Byrne and Hochwarter, 2008; Eisenberger et al., 1986, 1990, 2001, 2002; Liu and Ding, 2012; Rhoades and Eisenberger, 2002; Shen et al., 2014; Shoss et al., 2013; Tremblay et al., 2010; Wang and Hsieh, 2013). Specifically, these studies have observed that POS is positively related to employees’ organisational commitment, in-role and extra-role performance, innovations and prosocial behaviour, whereas it is negatively associated with absenteeism and turnover. The studies further demonstrated that employees tend to care about the organisation’s interests and help the organisation fulfill its goals by increasing their performance when they hold a perception that the organisation values their contributions and cares about their well-being. For example, based on a random sample of 254 nonsupervisory employees, Settoon et al. (1996) found that POS is positively associated with organisational commitment. Similarly, Shore and Wayne (1993) observed that POS was positively related to employees’ extra-role performance. By systematically reviewing over 70 empirical studies focusing on POS, Rhoades and Eisenberger (2002) noted that POS has a positive relationship with work-related outcomes such as organisational commitment, job satisfaction, job involvement, and in-role and extra role performance, and the effect sizes are from medium to large. In another meta-analysis study of the relationship between POS and job outcomes, Riggle et al. (2009) found that POS has a strong positive effect on job satisfaction, organisational commitment and performance, and a negative impact on intention to leave. Similarly, a recent study conducted in China suggested that POS is negatively associated with turnover.

While there are a great deal of studies examining POS and its consequences in psychology and management literature, studies on the issue of POS in police literature are rare. Given that police officers also work within the context of organisation, the limited research on officers’ POS is not sufficient to paint a full and clear picture that shows how organisational characteristics affect officers’ performance. The few available studies deserve to be acknowledged (Adebayo, 2005; Armeli et al., 1998; Boateng, 2014; Currie and Dollery, 2006; Gillet et al., 2013; Hochwarter et al., 2006; Parsons et al., 2011).

Studies conducted in Africa have found consistently significant effects of POS on organisational commitment and other work-related outcomes (Adebayo, 2005; Boateng, 2014). Based on a randomised sample of police officers from five police districts in Accra, Ghana, Boateng (2014) observed that officers’ POS is significantly and positively related to their perception of job effectiveness. Moreover, studies using Austrian samples found similar results. For example, Currie and Dollery (2006) noted that POS is a significant predictor of organisational commitment. A later study (Parsons et al., 2011) based on survey and questionnaire data from a police organisation in Australia found that officers who feel less valued and more disillusioned with organisational leadership show less organisational commitment. Similarly, Gillet et al. (2013) examined the effect of perception of organisational support on officers’ motivation to work, and found that officers who perceived that they were supported by their organisation had higher levels of self-determined motivation and work engagement.

Given the significant lack of POS studies in policing, especially in a context like China which has not received much scholarly attention, the present study analyses field data collected in a major Chinese police university to test the underlying assumption of the organisation support theory. Specifically, the study tests the hypothesis that officers’ effectiveness will be positively influenced by their perceptions about the support they receive from the police organisation.

Other determinants of police officer performance

Several variables have been observed to predict police officer’s effectiveness and effectiveness at work. Past research has observed the significant contribution of officers’ demographic characteristics in explaining whether an officer will be effective or ineffective. For instance, Boateng (2014) found significant effects for age. Older officers were likely to perceive themselves as more effective than the younger officers. Moreover, studies have also found that public recognition has the potential of influencing police effectiveness and behaviour. As Lim et al. (2000) noted, officers’ perception of their image in the eyes of citizens affects their pride and confidence as members of that profession, which will in turn influence their ability to function effectively and to maintain law and order in the society.

In other words, employees’ felt recognition would motivate them to improve their work effectiveness. This argument is in line with motivation theories (Skinner, 1974), which posit a positive relationship between employee recognition and their performance. Studies have examined the relationship between public recognition and employees’ work outcomes, and have yielded findings that generally provide support for the existence of such positive association (Adebayo, 2005; Haines and St-Onge, 2012; Hill, 1991; Lim et al., 2000; Yim and Schafer, 2009). For example, based on questionnaire survey and focus group data, Lim et al. (2000) found that officers’ perception of their image in the eyes of citizens is positively associated with their job satisfaction and occupational commitment, but negatively associated with their intention to quit. Similarly, using a Nigerian sample, Adebayo (2005) observed that public recognition has a positive impact on officers’ attitude and work behaviour. However, a more recent study (Boateng et al., 2014) which specifically examined the effect of officers’ perception of the public on their work outcome, found that officers’ perception of public recognition is not a significant predictor of their perceived job effectiveness.

The relation between public cooperation and police effectiveness has also received scholarly attention. Studies have produced significant evidence suggesting that public cooperation has a positive effect on police effectiveness and behaviour (Boateng et al., 2014; Bradford, 2014; Goudriaan et al., 2004; Kochel et al., 2013; Tankebe, 2009). These studies reveal that citizens’ cooperation behaviours inform their willingness to report crime and provide information about suspicious and criminal activities, which is critical for effective policing in democratic societies. Likewise, researchers pointed out that citizens’ cooperation with the police is largely determined by the extent to which they trust in the police (Mazerolle et al., 2013; Murphy and Cherney, 2012; Tyler, 2005). Accordingly, citizens who trust the police tend to cooperate with the police to solve cases.

Demographic characteristics and POS

Considering the lack of detail examination of police officers’ characteristics and their perception of organisational support, the present study further examines this relationship. Thus, the study’s second objective is to assess demographic differences in POS. The effects of employees’ demographic characteristics have barely been examined independently and as scholars have argued, demographic variables have been included in regression models as controls to account for the spuriousness between POS and its hypothesized antecedents (Amason and Allen, 1997; Rhoades and Eisenberger, 2002). For example, Amason and Allen (1997) examined the moderating effect of gender in the relationship between POS and employee perceptions of their communication with top management, immediate supervisors and coworkers, and observed that males who reported a positive coworker communication relationship also indicated higher POS. Two recent studies with an African social context produced similar results. For instance, based on questionnaire survey data collected from 320 Ghanaian industrial workers, Gyeke and Salminen (2009) observed that older workers, the married, relatively higher educated, relatively long tenured and supervisors possessed higher POS than their counterparts. They also found that female workers indicate perceptions of greater support than male counterparts do. Similarly, Boateng’s (2014) study examined the effects of officers’ demographic characteristics on their perception of organisational support, and found that older and short-tenured officers expressed perceptions of greater support. Based on the above reviews, this study examines the effects of Chinese officers’ demographic characteristics on their perceptions of organisational support.

Methodology

Research setting and participants

Fieldwork for the present study was conducted in one of the major national police universities in China in the month of November 2014. China has two national police universities that produce and train police officers, administrators and managers (Sun et al., 2010). One is the China Criminal Police University (CCPU), located in the historic city of Shenyang. CCPU is the older of the two police institutions, and has been training students for over 60 years. Each year, students apply to pursue varying police programmes (including criminal investigation, document examination, anti-drug, and forensic chemistry), leading to different certifications and degrees. In 2010, for example, CCPU enrolled about 6,000 students, including 500 sworn police officers receiving in-service training. The other police university is the Chinese People’s Public Security University (CPPSU), situated in Beijing. Likewise, CPPSU has a history of more than 60 years of higher education and training of police officers in China. The university has a current enrolment of about 13,000 students pursuing different degree programmes in 10 colleges. Both universities are directly supervised by the Ministry of Public Security, and offer undergraduate and graduate degree education to high school and college graduates as well as police officers in active service (Sun et al., 2010). Police officers who attend these universities are sworn officers, selected from different police departments across the country.

Participants in the present study, therefore, were sworn police officers who attended in-service training at one of the two police universities during 2014. A cross-sectional survey design was used to administer questionnaires to 300 officers who were selected using a convenience sampling approach. Convenience sampling was appropriate because of the nature of the research and participants’ schedules. Historically, police officers have been described as sceptical and cynical about researchers, and that behaviour makes it difficult to recruit officers to participate in any type of research (Boateng, 2014). In this circumstance, random selection of officers may not be appropriate, as it may lead to selecting officers who are genuinely anti-research.

Before the survey was administered to the selected officers, the research team translated the original English version of the questionnaire into Chinese for the officers to be able to read and answer the questions asked. Since the questionnaires were administered during classes, permission was sought from instructors teaching particular courses. Instructors who granted permission allowed the research team to distribute questionnaires at the beginning of the class. A short introduction was made to the class, followed by an explanation of the purpose of the study. Officers were then asked if they were willing to participate in the study, and those who agreed were given the questionnaires to fill out on the spot.² Before completing the questionnaires, officers were strictly assured that participation was voluntary, and they could refuse to answer particular questions or all questions on the questionnaire. Confidentiality was also assured by asking officers to desist from writing their names and other contact details anywhere on the questionnaires.

Participants

Two hundred and seventy-one questionnaires were filled out and returned to the research team, for a response rate of 90%. The descriptive statistics of the sample (Table 1) indicate that a vast majority (94%) of the officers were male, 63% were married and more than two-thirds (67%) of the officers reported an annual income of up to 39,999 RMB. Less than one-fifth (18%) of the officers worked in the public security department. The average age of the respondents was 31 years.

Table 1.

Descriptive statistics of study variables (n = 271).

Variables	Mini.	Max.	Mean	SD
Perceived police effectiveness	5.00	25.00	17.62	3.28
Perceived organisational support	5.00	25.00	15.96	3.96
Age	20.00	57.00	30.96	6.90
Male	.00	1.00	.94	.24
Married	.00	1.00	.63	.48
Experience	1.00	30.00	7.44	7.38
Police Superintended Class III or Lower, including constables	.00	1.00	.47	.50
Police Superintended Class I or II	.00	1.00	.31	.46
Police Supervisor Class III	.00	1.00	.09	.29
Police Supervisor Class I or II	.00	1.00	.11	.31
Police Commissioner	.00	1.00	.02	.14
Measures respondent’s level of responsibility in the department	.00	1.00	.17	.38
Public security	.00	1.00	.18	.39
Criminal investigation	.00	1.00	.43	.50
Traffic	.00	1.00	.31	.46
Economic crime	.00	1.00	.06	.24
Forensic science	.00	1.00	.03	.18
East	.00	1.00	.20	.40
Earn up to 39,999 RMB	.00	1.00	.67	.47
Between 40,000 and 79,999 RMB	.00	1.00	.29	.45
80,000 RMB and above	.00	1.00	.04	.20
Perceived citizen cooperation	5.00	25.00	13.63	3.69
Perceived citizen compliance	6.00	36.00	22.94	5.73
Perceived citizen recognition	3.00	15.00	9.77	2.39

Note: Min. = Minimum value; Max. = value; SD = Standard Deviation.

Measures

Dependent variable

Perceived police effectiveness, which is the only dependent variable in this study, was measured by how well the Chinese police believed to fight crime in the neighbourhoods. The items used to measure perceived police effectiveness in China were adapted from Boateng (2014) with modifications to fit the Chinese context. These items had the same lead-in question: ‘For each item, kindly indicate the extent to which you think the police are effective.’ The responses ranged from ‘strongly disagree’ to ‘strongly agree’. The items were ‘The police are effective in controlling violent crime’, ‘The police are effective in controlling public disturbances’, ‘The police are effective in controlling burglary’, ‘The police are effective in controlling theft’ and ‘Overall, the police are serving the public well’. Since the factor loadings for the items were good (ranged from 0.62 to 0.81; alpha = 0.76), the responses to the items were combined to form the perceived police effectiveness scale, with a mean score of 17.62 and a standard deviation of 3.28.

Independent variable

Perceived organisational support was the main independent variable of the study. Measures were adopted from the short version of the survey of perceived organisational support used by previous research (Byrne and Hochwarter, 2008; Eisenberger et al., 1990) to evaluate employers’ perception of organisational support. Six items were used to measure Chinese police officers’ perception of organisational support. A maximum likelihood factor analysis with a varimax rotation method revealed that the six items measure the same underlying construct (factors loadings ranged from 0.57 to 0.80). The scale (M = 15.96 and SD = 3.96) was therefore created by summing the responses of the six items. The scale has a good internal consistency, with an alpha value of 0.85.

Control variables

The effects of several variables were examined and controlled in the regression analysis. Age, measured as a continuous variable (in years); gender (0 = female, 1 = male); marital status (0 = single, 1 = married); experience, measured by number of years officers served; and rank, measured as a category variable (1 = superintendent class III or lower, 2 = superintendent class I or II, 3 = supervisor class III, 4 = supervisor class I or II, 5 = commissioner). However, for the purposes of the regression estimation, rank was later recoded as a dichotomous variable (0 = other ranks and 1 = superintendent class III or lower).

Administrative responsibility assessed officers’ level of responsibility in their respective departments. Responses were 0 = no (no administrative responsibility) and 1 = yes (I have administrative responsibility). Department was also measured as a categorical variable (1 = public security, 2 = criminal investigation, 3 = traffic, 4 = economic crime, 5 = forensic science). However, for the purposes of the regression estimation, the department variable was recoded as a dichotomous variable (0 = other departments and 1 = public security). Officers were also asked to indicate the location/region of China where they worked (0 = other location and 1 = east China). Finally, officers’ annual income was measured (1 = up to 39,999 RMB, 2 = 40,000–79,999 RMB, and 3 = 80,000 RMB and above). Officers who earned up to 39,999 RMB were compared to the rest.

she effects of three other performance indicators were also controlled in the current analysis. Perceived public cooperation was assessed using five items to explore the degree to which officers believed the people they protected were cooperative. Responses ranged from ‘strongly disagree’ to ‘strongly agree’. The items were ‘Citizens consider it their duty to assist law enforcement officers to perform their duties’, ‘People are always willing to report ongoing crime to the police’, ‘Citizens are always willing to give information to the police leading to the arrest of a criminal offender’, ‘People always do what the police ask them to do even when they know they were right’ and ‘Overall, do you think people generally cooperate with the police?’ Factor loadings for the item scale ranged from .60 to .79, and the scale had good internal consistency, with an alpha coefficient of .73.

Three items were utilised to measure perceived public recognition: ‘As a police officer, the recognition I receive for my services to the public is satisfactory’, ‘Serving as a police officer has made the public like me’ and ‘I feel I get the respect I deserve for my work from the public’. Responses to these items were summed (loadings ranged from .72 to .77) to form the recognition scale, which had an alpha of 0.68.

As in previous studies, we measured perceived public compliance using six items: ‘How often do you believe people follow rules about how to legally dispose of trash and litter?’, ‘How often do you believe people follow rules about not making noise at night?’, ‘How often do you think people follow rules about not speeding or breaking traffic laws?’, ‘How often do you think people follow rules about not buying possible stolen items on the street?’, ‘How often do you think people follow rules about not taking inexpensive items from stores or restaurants without paying?’ and ‘How often do you think people follow rules about not using drugs such as marijuana?’ Response categories ranged from 1 = never to 6 = always. Since the items loaded on the same factor (loadings ranging from .63 to .80), they were combined to form the perceived public compliance scale, which had an alpha coefficient of .84, suggesting good internal consistency.

Results

Three separate analyses were conducted to achieve the study’s primary objectives. First, descriptive analysis was conducted to describe the distribution of the study’s variables. Additionally, a maximum likelihood factor analysis was used to determine whether scale items measured the same underlying construct. Second, to examine the effect of officers’ perception of organisational support on their performance, we conducted multivariate ordinary least square regression model. The decision to use OLS was influenced by the nature of the dependent variable, which in this study was a continuous variable. Third, mean test comparisons were conducted to determine the demographic differences in officers’ perception of organisational support in China. To check multicollinearity issues in the regression model, collinearity diagnostic analysis was conducted. The results of this analysis, as indicated by the low variance inflation factor values (Table 2), suggest that multicollinearity was not an issue in the regression analysis.

Table 2.

Collinearity statistics of variables in the regression model.

Variables	Collinearity statistics
Variables	Tolerance	VIF
Perceived organisational support	.544	1.838
Age	.690	1.449
Male	.944	1.060
Married	.681	1.468
Between 40,000 and 79,999 RMB	.780	1.283
80,000 RMB and above	.861	1.162
Citizen cooperation	.608	1.644
Perceived recognition	.638	1.568
Perceived compliance	.687	1.456
Middle	.421	2.374
West	.500	2.001
Northeast	.839	1.192
Public security	.913	1.096

Examining the effect of organisational support on officers’ perception of effectiveness

To determine whether officers’ perceptions of organisational support will influence how they perform their legally mandated duties as law enforcement officers, we analysed our field data using ordinal logistic regression approach. The results of this analysis are presented in Table 3. The overall model fit was significant (χ² = 38.093, p < .01) and with a pseudo r-square of 0.24, the model is a better fit for the data than the null model. The table shows that the relationship between perceived organisational support and officers’ effectiveness is positive and statistically non-significant (Wald = 1.53, p > .05), controlling for the effects of other variables in the model. This finding failed to support the study’s hypothesis that officers’ perceptions of effectiveness will be positively and significantly influenced by their perceptions about the support they receive from the police organisation

Table 3.

An ordinal logistic regression estimating the effect of perceived organisational support on perceived police effectiveness.

	b (S.E.)	Wald
Perceived organisational support	.07 (1.53)	1.534
Age	-8.40 (.03)	8.85***
Gender – Male	-219.945	1.95***
Married	-.06 (.41)	.02
Citizen cooperation	.12 (.06)	3.44*
Perceived recognition	.24 (.09)	6.97**
Public security	-.72 (.46)	2.43
Perceived compliance	.07 (.03)	3.71*
Income (up to 39,999 RMB = RFC):
Between 40000 and 79999 RMB	-.13 (.39)	.11
80000 RMB and above	.59 (.82)	.52
Location (East = RFC)
Middle	.10 (.50)	.04
West	.42 (.48)	.75
Northeast	2.58 (1.37)	3.55*
Thresholds:
Very ineffective	-221.85 (1.94)	13124.23***
Ineffective	-219.23 (1.88)	13570.67***
Effective	-215.72 (1.88)	13153.13***
Model fit
-2 log likelihood	294.679
Chi-square	38.093**
d.f.	14
Nagelkerke R²	.235

Note: RFC = reference category; S.E. = Standard Errors; *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.

Despite the non-significant relationship between POS and perceived effectiveness, six control variables were found to predict officers’ views about their effectiveness. Officers’ age (Wald = 8.85, p < .001) and gender (Wald = 1.95, p < .001) negatively influenced perceived effectiveness. This indicates that older and male officers perceived lower sense of effective performance compared to younger and female officers. Similarly, officers’ perceptions of citizen cooperation (Wald = 3.44, p < .05), recognition (Wald = 6.97, p < .01) and compliance (Wald = 3.71, p < .05) positively predicted their sense of effectiveness. Officers who perceived higher citizen cooperation, recognition and compliance tend to believe that they are performing well on the job than those that rated lower on these indicators. Finally, location-Northeast was significant (Wald = 3.55, p < .05), and with a positive coefficient, officers that work in the northeastern part of China perform better on the job than those that work in the eastern part of China.

Demographic differences in perceived organisational support

In this section of the analysis, means test comparisons were conducted to examine demographic differences in officers’ perception of organisational support. The results are presented in Table 4. From the table, three demographic variables had a statistically significant relationship with perceived organisational support. Officer’s rank was significant (F(5, 236) = 3.44, p < .01); highly ranked officers (i.e., Commissioners, followed by Supervisor, Class I or II officers) had the highest levels of perceived support. Similarly, department was statistically significant (F(4, 213) = 3.15, p < .05). Officers who work in the Economic Crime department expressed greater levels of perceived support, followed by those who work in the Public Security department. However, officers who work in the Forensic Science department expressed the least support. Moreover, location was significant (F(3, 203) = 5.22, p < .01), officers who work in the Northeastern part of China reported higher POS, followed by those who are work in the Eastern part.

Table 4.

Demographic differences on officers’ perception of organisational support.

Variable	N	M	SD
Gender: t (246) = -.34
Female	16	15.63	4.13
Male	232	15.97	3.93
Marital status: t (246) = 1.38
Single	95	16.43	3.69
Married	155	15.71	4.13
Age: R = 0.04	196	30.96	6.90
Income: F (2, 239) = 1.45
Up to 39,999 RMB	163	15.69	4.12
Between 40,000 to 79,999 RMB	69	16.49	3.92
80,000 RMB and above	10	17.20	2.04
Officer’s rank: F (5,236) = 3.44**
Superintendent, Class III or lower	115	16.32	3.51
Superintendent, Class I or II	74	15.58	4.09
Supervisor, Class III	22	14.86	4.17
Supervisor, Class I or II	26	16.46	4.35
Commissioner	5	17.60	7.09
Department: F (4, 213) = 3.15*
Public security	38	16.13	3.44
Criminal investigation	94	15.46	3.71
Traffic	66	15.53	3.85
Economic crime	13	19.31	4.13
Forensic science	7	15.29	5.56
Location: F (3,203) = 5.22**
East	41	17.00	4.24
Middle	95	14.99	4.05
West	68	16.13	3.28
Northeast	3	21.67	3.06

Note: N = number of respondents; M = mean score; SD = standard deviation of the mean;

1 = t-test; 2 = Correlation; 3 = ANOVA; *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.

Discussion

The aim of this study was to examine the influence of organisational characteristic on police officers’ work habit in the context of the Chinese society. More specifically, using organisational support theory as a guiding framework (Boateng, 2014; Eder and Eisenberger, 2008), our aim was first, to assess the connection between perception of organisational support and officers’ effectiveness, and second, to determine demographic differences in officers’ perception of organisational support in China. Two major findings were observed in our regression and mean test comparison analyses.

In our ordinal logistic regression model, we found that perceived organisational support and police effectiveness are unrelated. Thus, in the Chinese context, police officers’ perceptions of effectiveness are not influenced by whether the police organisation cares for their well-being and provides them with necessary supports or not. This observed result did not only fail to provide credence to the study’s stated hypothesis that officers’ perceived effectiveness will be positively and significantly influenced by their perceptions about the support they receive from the police organisation but also inconsistent with prior studies. Studies conducted in policing have found considerable support for the organisational support theory, and have argued that officers’ effectiveness depend on their perceptions of how much the organisation cares for their well-being and values their contributions (Boateng, 2014; Gillet et al., 2013; Parsons et al., 2011). However, despite the tremendous support for POS, our result obtained by analysing Chinese data proves otherwise, suggesting that officers in China, unlike their counterparts in Ghana for example (see Boateng, 2014), are not perturb by the lack of support from their organisation. This conclusion can well be placed into the cultural context of the Chinese society, where individual’s work habits are guided by specific cultural values – collectivism and deferring to authority. Chinese culture values outcome more than the process of work. Hence, workers such as police officers emphasise achievement over quality of life.

In contrast to Western culture that values individualism, Chinese culture attaches great importance to collectivism, which underscores the belief that individuals from the same group are interdependent, and an individual’s values and interests are subordinated to the values and interests of the group to which they belong (Ip, 2009; Kolstad and Gjesvik, 2014). Although it has been noted by some scholars that individualism has increased its influence in China in recent years, largely due to China’s economic and political reform and its intensive interaction with the outside world, collectivism as a social norm still plays a dominant role in Chinese society (Ralston et al., 1997; Fong, 2004; Yan, 2003, 2006). In accordance with collectivistic values, Chinese people consider it acceptable to subjugate individual interests to the interests of the group (the group or organisation they belong to), and tend to accept decisions from the group/organisation no matter whether these decisions are favourable or unfavourable to their personal interests (For detail discussion on collectivism, see Fong, 2004; Ip, 2009; Kolstad and Gjesvik, 2014; Yan, 2003, 2006). Collective values also prevent citizens from using their work performance as a tool to deal with their group/organisation, because doing so will be at odds with their belief that the individual interests are dependent on the interests of the group/organisation. Thus, workers in China put greater emphasis on group success rather than individual success and this makes them culturally different from their colleagues from individualistic cultures who tend to think of themselves primarily as individuals and as distinct from others.

To relate the collectivism argument to work behaviour of police officers who are part of the Chinese workforce, we can safely argue that, irrespective of the level of officers’ POS, they just accept the way that the organisation treats them. Officers’ behaviours and work outcomes are never affected by how well they evaluate existing support systems in the department. This is because taking such an approach often times conflicts with their belief in the interdependence of interests within the organisation they work. Stated differently, Chinese officers would not intentionally adjust (increase or decrease) their performance or behaviour according to how much support they receive from the organisation. Thus, the mechanisms, namely social exchange and reciprocity, which were identified by theorists of POS and were supposed to function between employees’ POS and work outcomes, are largely missing in a Chinese working context, which largely provides a reasonable explanation that Chinese officers’ POS has no significant effect on their work-related performance.

The second observable finding from the current analysis was the effect of demographic characteristics in explaining variations in officers’ perception of organisational support. The rank, department and location where an officer works can be used to explain how some officers reported higher levels of POS than others reported. For instance, highly ranked officers and those who work in the economic crime and public security departments possessed greater perception of organisational support. Similarly, officers who work in the northeastern part of China have higher POS than those who work in the remaining parts of the country. In general, the demographic effect is consistent with previous studies (see Boateng, 2014; Gyeke and Salminen, 2009) but in terms of the effect of specific variables, there are inconsistencies. For instance, studies found differences in officers’ perceptions with respect to their age and marital status (Gyeke and Salminen) but these effects were not observed in the current analysis in China.

The current study acknowledges the following limitations. First, we acknowledge that since data were obtained directly from the officers, there is the possibility of desirability bias occurring. Officers may have answered some of the questions in ways that may be accepted by their colleagues, department and the public, subsequently inflating the overall responses and biasing the findings. We therefore caution against further interpretation of the results. Second, data analysed in this study were collected over a single period, and this inhibited the ability to make causal inferences about the relationship between Chinese officers’ attitudes and their perceptions of effectiveness and behaviour. Third, although the study’s sample size was large given that police officers are naturally cynical about outside researchers (Boateng, 2014; Boateng et al., 2014), the sample was conveniently selected from only one Police University in China.

Conclusion

Taken together, this study extends our understanding of perceived organisational support theory in an environment that strongly espouses cultural values of collectivism and respect for authority figures. The findings do not only show that police officers in this setting have differing levels of perception of organisational support but also challenges the general applicability of the theory in such societies as China. Chinese police officers are not influenced by the availability of support they received or lack of it in the organisation. Simply, officers’ work outcome, such as effective performance, is never affected by their belief about organisational support. This behaviour can at best be explained by the strong cultural belief of the Chinese society. The cultural norm of collectivism demands that individual workers in China place greater emphasis on group success and less on individual glory. This tends to make workers, including police officers, delay gratification and submit to authority figures without challenging conditions of service.

Footnotes

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Francis D Boateng

Notes

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