Emotional Strategies of Police and Their Varying Consequences for Burnout

Abstract

It has been widely noted that policing is a stressful occupation, leading to a host of adverse outcomes. Many have posited that, in part, this can be explained by the emotional demands imposed on officers as a consequence of their unique role, organization, and culture. Consistent with this premise, a number of studies have found support for the notion that emotive dissonance is particularly likely to contribute to burnout. However, no studies have previously assessed how the complex emotional demands and strategies exercised within policing produce benefits and consequences for officers. Specifically, how do requirements to express coercion or apologize influence officer burnout? How do requirements to express or suppress positive or negative emotion influence burnout? And, do these effects vary depending upon whether greater surface or deep acting is required? The present study suggests that while some aspects of emotive dissonance may be negatively consequential, other emotional demands and strategies used by officers may have advantages. Specifically, while coercion in particular seems to increase depersonalization, both surface acting and attempts to deeply experience required positive emotions actually serve to decrease burnout among officers. The implications of these findings for theory, research, and the prevention of burnout among police are discussed.

Keywords

police emotional labor burnout

Emotional Demands and Strategies of Police and Their Consequences

Because of its unique organization and conditions, policing is considered to be among the most stressful occupations (Dantzer, 1987; Violanti & Aron, 1995). The consequences of this stress are well documented with high rates of suicide, divorce, substance abuse, and domestic violence among police (Burke, 1993). Correspondingly, police suffer from higher levels of cynicism, burnout, and job dissatisfaction relative to other occupations (Kop, Euwema, & Schaufeli, 1999). Taken together, the adverse consequences of stress on police is likely to have a substantial impact on the quality of service provided to the public. Some evidence even suggests that officers who experience higher levels of stress and burnout are likely to be more aggressive (Kop & Euwema, 2001; Kop et al., 1999; Queirós, Kaiseler, & da Silva, 2013; Sack, 2009). Therefore, understanding the roots of police stress and its consequences is paramount to both the police and the public.

A leading explanation for the adverse consequences of public service roles has been emotional labor theory (Guy, Mastracci, & Newman, 2008; Guy, Newman, Mastracci, & Maynard-Moody, 2010; Hochschild, 1983; Kiel & Watson, 2009). This body of research on emotional labor and public service recognizes that emotion work is not only an essential component of almost all public service work, it is also critical for its effectiveness (Guy et al., 2008, 2010; Hsieh, 2012; Stivers, 2000, 2005). Especially in the interactions of street-level bureaucrats, emotion must be managed in a manner consistent with the role expectations of the position and to elicit the desired response from recipients (Hsieh, 2012; Kiel & Watson, 2009; Lipsky, 2010). However, requirements for emotion work may or may not conform to one’s self-concept or felt emotions, potentially inducing stress (Ashforth & Tomiuk, 2000). Likewise, the coping and emotion management skills of those who occupy public service roles are likely to vary widely across individuals and even situations (Guy et al., 2008, 2010). As a result, public service work can be both rewarding and stressful, with the outcome heavily conditioned by a variety of occupational, organizational, individual, and situational factors (Guy et al., 2008, 2010; Jin, Park, & Bak, 2015).

Above and beyond the normal stress of public service roles, police have the unique responsibility of exercising the coercive authority of the state in the interest of the public good (Bittner, 1967; Rumbaut & Bittner, 1979). Simultaneously, there is a reasonable expectation that given these unique powers, police conduct will be tempered by a high level of professionalism. As a consequence of this complex role, police are subject to inconsistent demands and requirements for emotional expression during the course of their work. On the one hand, as public servants, they are expected to be nicer than nice (Guy et al., 2008, p. 3); on the other, tougher than tough (Guy et al, 2008, p. 69) in their coercive role as protectors of the public. These conflicting demands are likely to lead to a host of psychological consequences for police officers, especially increased levels of burnout, cynicism, job dissatisfaction, and possibly unusual rates of other problems associated with the profession. In turn, these adverse consequences may contribute to counterproductive interactions between police and citizens, in which burnt out officers, wittingly or unwittingly, take out their frustrations through their official authority. For example, the stereotypical officer who has had a bad day and approaches the task of writing routine traffic tickets with an attitude may find himself the subject of a demeanor complaint, or worse, an escalating confrontation with a citizen, only serving to reinforce his or her negative views. As such, research has sought to examine the benefits and disadvantages of the unique emotional demands and occupational features of policing (Adams & Buck, 2010; Bakker & Heuven, 2006; Martin, 1999; Schaible & Gecas, 2010).

While variation in levels of burnout among police clearly exists—some cope with the role better than others—the literature on the emotion work of policing consistently finds that dissonance between an officer’s own values or emotions, and emotions or values demanded by the job, is especially likely to result in adverse consequences for officers (Bakker & Heuven, 2006; Schaible & Gecas, 2010). However, relatively little is known about what factors might mediate the adverse consequences of the police role. Additional literature has found that various emotion management strategies may mediate adverse consequences of work stressors (Grandey, Fisk, & Steiner, 2005), but none of this research to date has focused on the police context. Moreover, no study has examined how demands to express or suppress specific varieties of emotion within policing interact with various strategies such as deep or surface acting to benefit or harm officers. The purpose of the present study is to explore the degree to which various emotional demands interact with emotion management strategies used by officers.

Literature Review

Emotional Labor Theory and Burnout

In her seminal work, Hochschild (1979, 1983) argues that when the emotional demands of work contradict workers’ felt emotions, workers are likely to suffer adverse consequences. Hochschild calls this discrepancy between internal standards and demands for emotional display or suppression emotion work or emotive dissonance, while others have used the term emotional dissonance (Bakker & Heuven, 2006; Zapf, 2002; Zapf, Seifert, Schmutte, Mertini, & Holz, 2001; Zapf, Vogt, Seifert, Mertini, & Isic, 1999). Perpetual exposure to emotive dissonance is likely to result in numerous adverse consequences, especially a sense of inauthenticity, job dissatisfaction, and burnout (see also Erickson & Ritter, 2001; Erickson & Wharton, 1997). Theory and empirical research have identified a number of dimensions of emotion work that are likely to have a range of benefits and disadvantages (Brotheridge & Grandey, 2002; Brotheridge & Lee, 1998, 2003; Grandey, 2000).

Central to the study of the consequences of emotional labor is burnout (Brotheridge & Grandey, 2002; Erickson & Ritter, 2001; Hsieh, 2012; Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2001). Put simply, burnout is physical or mental collapse caused by overwork or stress. Burnout is a useful concept because it is a widely experienced outcome deriving from a variety of conditions in one’s character and environment (Maslach, Jackson, & Leiter, 1996; Maslach & Leiter, 2008; Maslach et al., 2001). However, it is especially linked to the conditions of the modern work environment because of its underlying dimensions, which capture the social and psychological angst likely to arise from these circumstances (Maslach et al., 2001). As such, a great deal of research has been devoted to better understanding the impact of work on the key dimensions of burnout: emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and one’s sense of personal accomplishment (PA).

EE exists when one’s circumstances demand a high degree of inauthentic or powerful emotions (Maslach, 1982). This in turn results in a figurative draining of one’s emotional resources to an unsustainable level (i.e., exhaustion). Similarly, out of repeatedly unpleasant social interactions, a sense of distance from others may emerge (i.e., DP), which is counterproductive to one’s functioning in their role or personal affairs (Maslach, 1982). For example, a police officer who consistently has unpleasant interactions while writing traffic tickets may eventually distance himself entirely and approach writing citations with little connection to the citizen. Lastly, one may develop a diminished sense of efficacy and PA as a product of routine encounters with others who are dissatisfied with their actions (Maslach, 1982). Thus, when subject to adverse work conditions, burnt out individuals may experience one or all of these circumstances, contributing to diminished capacity to function in a healthy manner. As such, a vast body of research on the causes of burnout has emerged.

High intensity, frequency, and duration of emotional interaction, by themselves, do not seem to have any consequences (Erickson & Wharton, 1997; Morris & Feldman, 1996, 1997); in fact, it may be rewarding inasmuch as it affords the opportunity to authentically express one’s emotions. For example, consider the case of a police officer who genuinely embraces the role of community protector (i.e., sheepdog) and actively hunts for threats to the community by routinely stopping individuals he perceives to be threats and confronting them (Grossman & Christensen, 2008). This is likely to be rewarding as it affirms the officer’s identity. However, when the display rules of jobs demand emotions that conflict with felt emotions, resulting in a sense of inauthenticity, burnout is a likely consequence (Bakker & Heuven, 2006; Ekman & Friesen, 1969; Glomb & Tews, 2004; Rafaeli & Sutton, 1989; Wharton, 1993). For example, when that same officer is assigned to the community service division and suffered to endure repeated complaints from citizens at community meetings about the ineffectiveness of the police department, and to apologize sincerely on behalf of the department, burnout may ensue. Therefore, only in combination with context are the frequency and intensity of emotional demands likely to have benefits or consequences (Zapf & Holz, 2006).

Considering contextual differences, demands for the expression or suppression of emotion in one’s work environment have been posited to have both positive and negative effects as well. Demands for expression of positive emotion (e.g., joy, hope, enthusiasm, etc.) have generally been found to have adverse effects in a number of studies (Abraham, 1998; Glomb & Tews, 2004; Morris & Feldman, 1996, 1997), with individuals suffering from higher EE and increased DP. In other words, as a consequence of demands to feign positive emotions even when they are not feeling them, over time, individuals are likely to feel personally drained and complacent toward those they are expected to serve. For example, a police officer who must consistently have a positive demeanor, even though he is often subjected to the worst of the worst and witnesses indescribable tragedies, may easily become emotionally drained. Attempting to display positive emotions when so much of the work an officer does elicits a negative gut reaction is undoubtedly going to take its toll. However, some studies have also suggested that demands for the expression of positive emotion are less consequential than originally believed, even potentially producing neutral or positive effects (Hsieh, 2012; Johnson & Spector, 2007; Zapf & Holz, 2006). Specifically, positive emotional demands tend to result in more satisfied customers, which has residual benefits for the service worker (Pugh, 2001; Tsai, 2001; Zapf & Holz, 2006). In addition, positive feelings may interact with underlying physiological processes when actors make a concerted effort to feel a required positive emotion (Grandey, 2003; Johnson & Spector, 2007; Zajonc, 1985).

With regard to the expression of negative emotions (e.g., anger, fear, sadness, etc.), limited empirical research exists (Zapf & Holz, 2006). In part, this is attributable to the prohibition of negative emotional expression in most jobs, except those with high degrees of autonomy (Erickson & Wharton, 1997). That research that has been conducted suggests that expression of negative emotion to elicit a desired response, for example in an employee or a suspect, is likely to increase one’s sense of PA in one’s work (Stenross & Kleinman, 1989; Sutton, 1991); however, such actions generally require some degree of DP of clients or recipients as well. Moreover, the physical and psychological energy required to elicit such responses may result in EE. In partial support of this, Zapf and Holz (2006) found that subsamples required to express negative emotion reported a higher sense of PA and EE but did not report significantly different levels of DP.

Theory also suggests that suppression of emotion may be consequential. Specifically, Grandey (2000) argues that suppression of felt emotions is likely to result in physical illness, cognitive impairment, and burnout because of the mental and physical demands of bottling up emotion over time. This is consistent with physiological research that has found that suppression of emotion is associated with activation of the parasympathetic nervous system and a host of psychological and physiological consequences (Gross & Levenson, 1997). Consistent with this, a number of studies have found adverse effects of emotional suppression. Glomb and Tews (2004) find that suppression of both positive and negative emotions results in higher levels of EE, with the adverse consequences of suppressing negative emotion being moderately stronger. Several other studies have found empirical support for the adverse consequences of suppressing negative emotions (Abraham, 1998; Brotheridge & Grandey, 2002; Hsieh, 2012; Morris & Feldman, 1997). Similarly, Côté and Morgan (2002) found that greater requirements for suppression of negative emotion increased intentions to quit one’s job, and several studies have found that the requirement to hide negative emotions is related to burnout (Best, Downey, & Gill, 1999; Hsieh, 2012; Schaubroeck & Jones, 2000).

While display rules requiring suppression or expression may be consequential, methods by which individuals manage required emotions have also been demonstrated to have an impact (Brotheridge & Grandey, 2002). Goffman’s (1959) concepts of deep acting and surface acting are two primary means through which individuals respond to display rules in their work environments. Individuals engage in deep acting when they attempt to artificially relate to and embrace organizational expectations by placing themselves in an altered state, much like a stage actor might do when employing method acting (Goffman, 1959). Through surface acting individuals engage in actions that support organizational expectations, yet internally the actor makes no effort to experience the accompanying emotions (Goffman, 1959; Hochschild, 1983). Within the context of policing, an example of deep acting might entail efforts to feel true compassion for someone who one might consider to be somewhat of a deserving victim. In contrast, an example of surface acting is suppressing one’s disdain for White supremacists while working to ensure members of such a group are safe and secure as they conduct a public parade.

Hochschild (1983) argues that deep acting is more likely to produce burnout because it requires more emotional energy to feel emotions than feign them; however, most research has found that surface acting is actually more likely to produce job dissatisfaction and EE than deep acting (Brotheridge & Grandey, 2002; Brotheridge & Lee, 2003; Diefendorff, Erickson, Grandey, & Dahling, 2011; Erickson & Ritter, 2001; Grandey, 2003; Totterdell & Holman, 2003). This is in part attributable to the fact that surface acting is considered to be a bad faith effort to meet emotional demands; whereas deep acting is considered to be a good faith effort to actually feel the emotions required (Rafaeli & Sutton, 1987). Therefore, individuals who make an effort to reappraise their feelings rather than engaging in response-focused emotion regulation (see Grandey, 2000) have been found less likely to suffer adverse consequences. In fact, some have suggested that successful efforts to engage in deep acting (i.e., actually feeling required emotions) may actually result in those feelings (Johnson & Spector, 2007; Zajonc, 1985).

Given the differential effects of various emotion management strategies, others have suggested that consequences of emotion work are likely to be contingent upon job-specific expectations and, especially, the degree of autonomy in selecting emotion regulation strategies (Grandey et al., 2005; Zapf & Holz, 2006). Grandey et al. (2005) suggest that greater autonomy over one’s emotional expressions should mediate any relationship between surface acting and burnout because those with more control have chosen to employ this strategy. Erickson and Ritter (2001) argue that more traditionally feminine occupations have less autonomy, tend to require more suppression of emotion, and allow for less expression (especially of negative emotions); however, higher status and male-dominated occupations have greater autonomy and allow for a wider range of expression, especially of negative emotions that may be used to reinforce dominance. Given the unique nature of policing, we now turn to the specific emotional demands and consequences of police work (Bakker & Heuven, 2006; Brown & Campbell, 1990; Daus & Brown, 2012; Martin, 1999; Schaible & Gecas, 2010; Toch, 2002).

Emotional Labor, Policing, and Burnout

Unlike any other profession, police officers are put in the unique role of enforcing the law while simultaneously fulfilling a service role. This places officers in the position of acting as both the toe and the heel of organizational interests (Hochschild, 1983, p. 147) and requires that they can quickly shift between acting tougher than tough and nicer than nice (Guy et al., 2008, p. 54). As a consequence, officers are required to engage in a broad range of emotional displays during the course of their duties (Bakker & Heuven, 2006; Frewin, Stephens, & Tuffin, 2006; Howard & Tuffin, 2000; Kidwell, 2006; Martin, 1999; Pogrebin & Poole, 1988; van Gelderen, Heuven, van Veldhoven, Zeelenberg, & Croon, 2007). Such circumstances are likely to produce a high degree of role confusion, value dissonance, and emotive dissonance (Bakker & Heuven, 2006; Hunt, McCadden, & Mordaunt, 1983; Kelling & Pate, 1975; Schaible & Gecas, 2010; van Gelderen et al., 2007). This, in turn, is likely to result in higher levels of burnout and other adverse consequences. As such, we turn our attention to the ways in which the unique emotional requirements and features of policing are likely to affect officers.

A central feature of policing is the requirement that officers be capable of selecting appropriate emotional displays that both conform to the expectations of a range of external stakeholders and achieve the objectives of complex situations. Toward this end, officers are required to frequently adapt their emotional displays during the course of their duties (Bakker & Heuven, 2006). For example, in the course of responding to the scene of a single tragic accident, officers may be required to exhibit compassion, caring, and positive affect toward an injured child; exhibit sternness to gain the control and attention of a panicked parent; and suppress their anger and disdain for the drunk driver who created the situation. This requires the suppression and expression of emotions, at both shallow and deep levels, both of which are likely to have a range of benefits and consequences for officers.

Given the unique authority of police to exercise coercive force, a number of studies have documented the tendency of officers to utilize coercive expression (anger, frustration, assertiveness, etc.) to command control of situations and achieve objectives (Daus & Brown, 2012; Rafaeli & Sutton, 1991; Stenross & Kleinman, 1989). Contrary to other service occupations, in which the exercise of negative emotion is often expressly forbidden, studies indicate that officers benefit from an increased sense of PA as a result of these tactics. This is especially true when coercive emotional displays are successful at subduing or gaining compliance from a suspect. Despite the apparent benefits for PA, the demands of such emotion management imply some level of DP and may also result in EE. Existing research, however, has yet to establish exactly how these factors are related within the domain of policing.

Aside from the exercise of coercive emotions by officers to achieve objectives, officers are expected to remain cool, calm, and professional, which often requires the suppression or restraint of negative emotion in routine interactions. In the closely related profession of corrections, Rutter and Fielding (1988) found that the required suppression of emotion was one of the most significant sources of stress. Anecdotally supporting this notion, Guy et al. (2008) recounts the views of one corrections worker who recalls the difficulty in having to act professional on the job when all he wanted to do was shout, scream, (or) yell (p. 30). The required ability to remain calm and professional when the initial gut reaction is to simply fly off the handle can greatly add to an individual’s level of stress. Similarly, in a diary study of Dutch military police, Van Gelderen et al. (2007) found that emotional dissonance, as defined by the suppression and faking of emotions, resulted in greater EE and DP, especially when paired with other stressors. In contrast, other studies have found that suppression has both benefits and disadvantages for officers. Daus and Brown (2012) found that officers frequently report a professional need to separate themselves from their emotions, especially anger, shock, disgust, and sadness; however, they also found that officers indicated that suppression was likely to result in a host of undesirable consequences. Consistent with this, Ricca (2003) found that the suppression of anger in particular resulted in increased conflict with recipients and burnout among officers. In one of the few quantitative studies including suppression of emotion by police, Bakker and Heuven (2006) find that nurses experience more EE because their job demands that they empathize with clients, whereas police experience higher levels of DP. This might be explained by differences in tendencies to depersonalize recipients.

Beyond the requirements of police to engage in coercion and exercise restraint, a number of studies have noted that policing frequently requires showing humanity, especially when dealing with victims (Daus & Brown, 2012). In these situations, officers may be required to see recipients of police services as human and express empathy or compassion. In doing so, officers may be forced to either express emotions they are not feeling (e.g., inasmuch as they blame the victim) or suppress emotions they are feeling (e.g., sadness at the tragedy of a situation). Officers have developed a number of social and cultural mechanisms for coping with such circumstances, especially DP through participation in gallows humor (Pogrebin & Poole, 1988). However, the ultimate toll of such situations and demands on officers over time is uncertain and likely to vary widely across different officers. Reason would suggest that the emotive dissonance produced by such situations is likely to produce EE or DP; however, officers may also feel more connected and accomplished when they are allowed to authentically connect with other human beings and step outside of their conventional bureaucratic role.

Other trends like community-oriented policing and police–community relations efforts increasingly demand that officers engage in a more customer-oriented approach to interactions (Bayley & Shearing, 1996; Kelling & Moore, 1988; Trojanowicz, 1971; Trojanowicz & Bucqueroux, 1990). As a result, there is an implicit expectation that officers will approach citizens in routine interactions with a degree of respect and concern for customer satisfaction. However, because officers have a wide degree of discretion in the emotional displays they exercise during routine encounters like traffic stops, they may have trouble switching between the strategies of their more coercive roles and more customer-oriented ones. In fact, many officers argue vehemently that no citizen encounter is routine, it is the most dangerous function of their job, and they must maintain a cold and intimidating presence to ensure control of the situation (Shon, 2005). Such encounters are likely to exacerbate tensions and stress between police and citizens because of a lack of shared mutual understanding, which in turn is likely to produce both DP and EE within officers and may diminish one’s sense of PA (e.g., believing that everyone hates a cop and having this reinforced by encounters with dissatisfied citizens). On the other hand, the literature on community policing anecdotally suggests that involvement in such initiatives should increase job satisfaction and decrease burnout (Zhao, Thurman, & He, 1999). As such, the literature is unclear on how the customer-service orientation of contemporary policing philosophies is likely to differentially affect officers who employ various emotion management strategies.

Although the emotional demands of policing noted earlier have consequences for officers, these consequences are likely to be conditioned by other features of the police occupation; specifically, the high autonomy officers have in selecting emotional strategies and the relatively high status officers hold in interaction, by virtue of their authority. In terms of executing the police role, surface acting has the benefit of allowing officers to distance themselves from recipients of police services, thereby averting having to deeply feel the powerful emotions often experienced or required in police encounters with tragic human circumstances. Moreover, surface acting allows for greater versatility and less investment in the selection of emotional displays, allowing officers to rapidly switch emotional modes as circumstances necessitate. Where deep acting is used, it is likely adopted as an authentic expression of emotion and an effort to transcend the bureaucratic confines of policing. Taken together, this implies that officers may experience a high degree of DP through emotional regulation; however, this is likely to spare them EE and increase one’s sense of PA. This is contradictory to the experience of emotional labor in most other service roles with lesser autonomy.

Exploratory Hypotheses

No study has examined how demands to express or suppress specific varieties of emotion within policing interact with various strategies such as deep or surface acting to benefit or harm officers. The purpose of the present study is to explore the degree to which various emotional demands interact with emotion management strategies used by officers. Consistent with past literature and theory, we hypothesize that increased demands for expression or suppression of specific emotions in policing will correspond to higher levels of burnout. Also consistent with past research, we hypothesize that deep acting will result in higher levels of EE, while surface acting will result in greater depersonalization. However, moving beyond these hypotheses, a key focus of the present study is to explore how demands for the suppression or expression of specific categories of emotions affect officers. Specifically, we are interested in how demands for expression or suppression of specific emotions interact with the methods selected by officers to meet these demands (deep vs. surface acting) to produce both benefits and consequences. Existing research suggests that there should be effects; however, it is insufficient to say what these might be, especially within the unique occupational context of policing. Based on these findings, implications for theory, research, and the prevention of burnout among police are discussed.

Data and Methods

The data for this study derive from a survey administered in a municipal police department in the Pacific Northwest. Like many departments, beginning in the 1980s, this department made efforts to implement a community-oriented policing philosophy. Subsequent to 9/11, the department attempted to blend the existing community-oriented policing practices with an information-led or intelligence-led philosophy (Ratcliffe, 2008). As such, the department represents a typical department in terms of its contemporary integration of a variety of policing philosophies. The department serves a midsized city with a population of approximately 200,000, which is the economic hub for a broader Metropolitan Statistical Area (400 K) and incorporates a diverse array of neighborhoods. The demographic characteristics of the city approximate the U.S. population with the exception of racial or ethnic composition. The race or ethnic composition of the city is predominately White (89.5%) with Hispanics as the largest single minority group (3.0%). At the time the survey was conducted, levels of poverty were somewhat higher than the U.S. population with 15.9% of individuals falling below the poverty line (vs. 12.4% of the U.S. population).

Levels of crime and police personnel in the city did not significantly differ from other cities of similar size (Group II Cities, 100 K–250 K). Comparison of Uniform Crime Reports statistics with the average of other Group II Cities indicates that there are similar levels of violent crime, but the city has slightly higher levels of reported property crime. Police staffing within the city is comparable with that of other similar sized cities in the region with approximately 1.5 officers per 1,000 population. The proportion of female officers is comparable with that of other similar sized cities (12% of commissioned officers). Likewise, the percentage of civilian employees was approximately 25%, consistent with other cities of similar size. In sum, the department represents a typical American police department and is therefore well suited for exploring the general phenomenon of emotion management in police work.

Surveys were administered to 153 officers assigned to the Uniformed Patrol Division (50% of all commissioned officers). The Patrol Division was selected for the survey because of its frequent contact with the public and greater potential for experiencing emotional dissonance. At the time of the survey, officers had been in their assignment and under a consistent chain of command for 6 months.¹ Over a period of several weeks, self-administered questionnaires were distributed during roll-call sessions at the beginning of each 10-person team’s shift. Prior to completing the survey, officers were informed that the intent was to assess how various organizational factors and demands of police work contribute to job satisfaction. Officers were informed that a final report analyzing the findings would be provided to the department, but confidentiality of responses would be strictly protected in the dissemination of results.

Officers were given approximately 0.5 hour to complete the survey during their roll-call session. All officers were debriefed about the purpose of the survey in person and given the option to participate with informed consent. One hundred and nine officers completed the survey—representing a 71% response rate. This response rate is expected given that on any day an average of 25% to 30% of officers in the Uniformed Patrol Division were absent due to vacations, sick leave, injuries, court cases, and training. The sample was representative of the demographics of the department’s Patrol Division at the time the survey was administered (12% women, 14% minority).

Dependent Variables

Burnout

To measure burnout, the present study used indicators adapted from Maslach et al. (1996). Maslach’s measures tap three dimensions of burnout: EE, DP, and PA. Each question in the scale asks respondents to state how frequently they experienced various phenomena related to burnout (0 = Never, 1 = Once in a While, 2 = Some of the Time, 3 = Most of the Time, 4 = All of the Time). For example, officers were asked to report the degree to which working with people all day is really a strain and the degree to which they feel emotionally drained from work (See Appendix for additional detail on questions). Only 13 of Maslach’s original 22-item scale were available in the data collection instrument.² Confirmatory factor analysis supported the multidimensional nature of the scale with items loading as follows: PA subscale (four items, eigen = 1.97, alpha = .728); DP (three items, eigen = 1.66, alpha = .580); and EE (six items, eigen = 1.22, alpha = .75; refer to appendix for additional details). Items included in the PA dimension were reverse coded to reflect a diminished sense of accomplishment, which is in a substantively consistent direction with the other measures of burnout. Scales for each dimension of burnout were created by summing the values for each of the component indicators and dividing by the total number of indicators included in the scale (See Table 1 for descriptive statistics for each scale).

Table 1.

Descriptive Statistics and Correlations.

		M	SD	Min	Max	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)	(7)	(8)	(9)	(10)	(11)
(1)	Emotional exhaustion	5.3	2.4	0.0	12.0
(2)	Depersonalization	5.5	2.0	1.0	11.0	.11
(3)	Personal accomplishment	−13.7	3.1	−21.0	−5.0	.30***	.04
(4)	Age	2.8	0.9	1.0	5.0	.09	−.06	.06
(5)	Sex	0.1	0.3	0.0	1.0	.06	−.05	−.04	.00
(6)	Surface acting	9.4	3.8	0.0	19.0	−.06	.19**	−.02	−.12	.16
(7)	Deep acting	1.2	1.0	0.0	4.0	.19**	.34***	.07	−.06	−.09	.30***
(8)	Requirement to express coercion	1.5	1.0	0.0	4.0	.07	.19**	.04	−.02	−.16	.28***	.25***
(9)	Requirement to apologize	1.3	0.8	0.0	4.0	.16	.02	−.07	−.01	.07	.22**	.24***	.17*
(10)	Requirements for negative expression	0.0	0.8	−1.4	2.0	.08	.12	.06	−.11	.05	.46***	.37***	.30***	.26***
(11)	Requirements for positive expression	0.0	0.8	−2.5	1.7	−.11	.07	−.01	−.21**	−.01	.59***	.19**	.20**	.28***	.45***
(12)	Suppression of negative emotion	0.0	0.8	−2.0	1.9	−.09	.05	−.02	−.01	.13	.39***	.06	.18*	.21**	.40***	.59***

****

p < .10. **p < .05. *p < .01.

Measures of Emotional Demands and Strategies

A critical factor in explaining the impact of emotional labor is the degree and variety of emotion required of workers (Grandey, 2000). Items from Brotheridge and Lee’s (2003) Emotional Labor Scale and Best et al.’s (1999) Emotional Work Requirements Scale were used to assess general demands for expression and suppression of emotion. Items from Erickson and Ritter (2001) asked respondents whether they have been required to express or suppress each of the following specific emotions as a part of their work over the past week: Anger, Shame, Calm, Excitement, Guilt, Joy, Helplessness, Irritation, Nervousness, Pride, Sadness, or Fear. All items selected from these scales asked respondents to express how frequently they were required to engage in specific types of emotion as part of their work with response categories as follows: 1 = Not At All, 2 = Seldom, 3 = Often, 4 = Usually, or 5 = Always (See Appendix for additional information on specific questions).

To assess the hypothesis that emotional dissonance in one’s work contributes to higher levels of burnout, factor analysis was used to guide construction of several scales measuring emotional work requirements using the items described earlier. Among the scales developed for this analysis were indicators of requirements for the expression and suppression of emotion, deep acting, and surface acting. Within the domains of expression and suppression, further factor analysis was used to guide the development of scales measuring the expression and suppression of specific categories of emotion.

Emotional expression dimensions

Items perceived by officers as measuring the general requirements for intense emotional expression included requirements of officers to make someone afraid, express sympathy, express surprise, express disgust, express anger, apologize to someone, and express friendly emotions. Based on factor analysis, four dimensions of emotional expression were identified. Expression of coercive emotions and apologetic emotions both loaded as their own single-item dimensions. Expression of negative emotions (alpha = .7158) included surprise, disgust, and anger. Expression of positive emotion (alpha = .7154) included sympathy, reassurance, and happy emotions. Using the items noted earlier, scales measuring required expression of negative and positive emotion were created by summing the values for each of the component indicators and dividing by the total number of indicators included in the scale (See Table 1 for descriptive statistics for each scale). Requirements for expression of coercive emotion and apology were left as single-item indicators, as suggested by their loading in the factor analysis.

Suppression of negative emotion

Along with the requirement to engage in emotional expression, the requirement for suppression of intense emotions has also been theorized to have a significant effect on burnout. Factor analysis revealed that these items constituted a single dimension, including the requirement to hide one’s amusement over something, hide one’s anger or disapproval, hide one’s disgust, and hide one’s fear. All items were combined in a summated scale where the sum of the responses for each indicator was divided by the total number of indicators included. The resulting scale was normally distributed with an alpha of .78.

Surface acting

Central to the theory of emotional labor is the concept of surface acting, which has been defined as the requirement to display but not embrace emotions demanded by one’s occupation. While most often associated with lower level service-sector jobs such as cashiers, retail sales persons, or bank tellers, police officers are also required to engage in a high degree of surface acting. To measure the degree to which officers varied in their levels of surface acting, respondents were asked to provide information about their perceptions of the requirement to display emotions on the job, requirement to display many different emotions, requirement to resist expressing true feelings, requirement to express emotions that one really does not have, and the requirement to express friendly emotions. When combined into a summated scale, using the procedures noted earlier, the measures were normally distributed and possessed acceptable internal reliability with an alpha of .70.

Deep acting

Deep acting involves making an effort to embrace emotions demanded by one’s position, even if they might be contrary to one’s natural feelings. To measure the variation in levels of deep acting, officers were asked to express the degree to which they made an effort to actually feel emotions required by their job. The response categories for this item were a five-item Likert scale ranging from Not At All Required to Always Required. Because this is a single item, reliability could not be calculated, but the operationalization of the item is consistent with theory and the conceptual definition.

Control variables

Among all control variables considered (analyses available upon request), only age and sex had substantial impacts on burnout once other factors were controlled and are therefore included in all models. Sex is measured as a dichotomous variable (0 = Male, 1 = Female). Age is measured using an ordinal scale grouping respondents into age categories (18 to 24 [1]; 25 to 34 [2]; 35 to 44 [3]; 45 to 54 [4]; 55 to 64 [5]; 65 Plus [6]).

Results

Descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations between variables are presented in Table 1. Correlations indicate that there are several bivariate correlations between independent variables and each of the three dimensions of burnout. Higher levels of deep acting are significantly correlated with an increased level of EE (r = .19, p < .05); however, no other factors appear to have an effect by themselves. Surface acting (r = .19, p < .05), deep acting (r = .34, p < .01), and requirements for the expression of coercion (r = .19, p < .05) all significantly increase DP. No variables have a significant bivariate effect on officers’ senses of PA. With regard to control variables, only age had a significant negative correlation with requirements for the expression of positive emotions. This suggests that older officers seem to perceive fewer demands to be customer-service oriented. There is a high degree of correlation between the various dimensions of emotion work; however, no correlations exceed .6. Given the risk of multicollinearity, variance inflation factor (VIF) tests were conducted for all multivariate analyses, with no VIF’s exceeding 2.5 (the conservative threshold is VIF > = 4; O’Brien, 2007).

Table 2 contains results from all independent variables and controls regressed on each dimension of burnout. When controlling for other factors, no variables exerted significant independent effects on EE or officers’ sense of PA. Only deep acting (b = .417, p < .05) and perceived requirements for coercion (b = .522, p < .05) exhibited significant positive influence on DP when controlling for other factors. Models best explained the variance in DP (Adjusted R²= .072) and EE (Adjusted R²= .043); however, the models explained almost no variance in officers’ sense of PA.

Table 2.

Regression of Emotional Demands and Controls on Dimensions of Burnout.

	Emotional exhaustion	Depersonalization	Personal accomplishment
	Coef/(SE)	Coef/(SE)	Coef/(SE)
Age	.253	−.068	.260
Age	(.286)	(.225)	(.380)
Sex (Female)	.875	.048	−.127
Sex (Female)	(.795)	(.625)	(1.057)
Requirement for surface acting	−.069	.047	−.057
Requirement for surface acting	(.087)	(.068)	(.116)
Requirement for deep acting	.423	.471**	.320
Requirement for deep acting	(.270)	(.212)	(.362)
Requirements for coercion	.335	.522**	.204
Requirements for coercion	(.290)	(.228)	(.388)
Requirements for apology	.447	−.195	−.377
Requirements for apology	(.308)	(.242)	(.427)
Requirements for expression of negative emotions	.247	−.177	.291
Requirements for expression of negative emotions	(.372)	(.293)	(.493)
Requirements for expression of positive emotions	−.157	.024	.101
Requirements for expression of positive emotions	(.458)	(.360)	(.606)
Requirements for suppression of negative emotions	−.566	−.144	−.095
Requirements for suppression of negative emotions	(.394)	(.310)	(.544)
Intercept	3.497***	4.271***	−14.238***
Intercept	(1.215)	(.955)	(1.632)
N	99.000	99.000	97.000
R ²	0.131	0.157	0.035
Adjusted R²	.043	.072	.000

p < .05. ***p < .01.

Despite minimal effects of independent variables by themselves, theory and past research suggest that emotion management strategies are likely to condition the impact of different demands for expression. In other words, demands to express apology are likely to substantially differ depending upon whether one attempts to experience them deeply, or merely present a surface display. Therefore, interactions between key variables were examined. Specifically, all interactions between the strategies of deep and surface acting and the five dimensions of emotional demands (coercion, apology, expression of positive and negative emotions, and suppression of negative emotions) were examined. All variables were mean-centered and multiplied by one another to calculate interactive terms between variables (Jaccard & Turrisi, 2003).

To simplify presentation of the analysis, only models with significant effects are presented in Table 3. With regard to EE, the independent effects of deep acting only emerge as significant when interactions between deep acting and requirements for expression of positive emotions or requirements for apology are controlled. This indicates that efforts by officers to deep act outside of either of these domains may result in increased EE. While not significant, the interactions further indicate that efforts by officers to deeply experience apologetic emotions may increase EE. In contrast, efforts to deeply experience positive emotions may be beneficial in reducing EE. Both deep acting and perceived requirements for the expression of coercive emotion independently increase officers’ sense of DP when deep acting for apologies is controlled. This indicates that controlling efforts to deeply feel apologetic, and other factors, independent exercise of either coercion or deep acting are likely to increase DP. Consistent with the previous results, no variables exerted any independent effects on officers’ sense of PA. However, a number of interactions seem to have benefits for officers. With regard to deep acting, only expression of negative emotions interacted to bolster officers’ sense of accomplishment. This is likely because officers feel it is necessary to express negative emotions to achieve instrumental goals. In contrast, surface acting interacted with requirements for apology and both expression of positive and suppression of negative emotions to improve officers’ sense of PA.

Table 3.

Regression of Emotional Demands and Controls on Dimensions of Burnout.

	Emotional exhaustion				Depersonalization	Personal accomplishment
	Coef/(SE)	Coef/(SE)	Coef/(SE)	Coef/(SE)	Coef/(SE)	coef/(SE)	coef/(SE)	coef/(SE)	coef/(SE)
Age	.266	.169	.089	.113	−.086	.072	.221	.002	.054
Age	(.285)	(.298)	(.285)	(.293)	(.218)	(.383)	(.371)	(.382)	(.372)
Sex (Female)	.822	.917	1.064	.780	.126	.323	.146	−.296	.495
Sex (Female)	(.793)	(.796)	(.776)	(.788)	(.607)	(1.059)	(1.037)	(1.027)	(1.040)
Surface acting	−.102	−.071	−.100	−.062	.096	−.084	−.053	−.043	−.068
Surface acting	(.090)	(.087)	(.085)	(.086)	(.069)	(.114)	(.113)	(.112)	(.111)
Deep acting	.466*	.458*	.319	.391	.407**	.387	.356	.270	.356
Deep acting	(.271)	(.272)	(.265)	(.267)	(.207)	(.356)	(.353)	(.351)	(.348)
Requirement for coercion	.355	.312	.335	.285	.493**	.242	.296	.098	.141
Requirement for coercion	(.289)	(.291)	(.282)	(.288)	(.222)	(.381)	(.380)	(.378)	(.373)
Requirement for apology	.242	.438	.684**	.501	.105	−.296	−.238	−.306	−.449
Requirement for apology	(.342)	(.308)	(.313)	(.306)	(.262)	(.421)	(.421)	(.415)	(.411)
Requirements for expression of negative emotion	.230	.263	.246	.280	−.152	.237	.567	.354	.338
Requirements for expression of negative emotion	(.371)	(.372)	(.361)	(.368)	(.284)	(.485)	(.495)	(.479)	(.475)
Requirements for expression of positive emotion	.045	−.246	−.258	−.298	−.272	.057	−.042	−.173	−.336
Requirements for expression of positive emotion	(.480)	(.466)	(.446)	(.459)	(.368)	(.595)	(.594)	(.597)	(.603)
Requirements for suppression of negative emotion	−.605	−.547	−.675*	−.686*	−.087	.049	−.376	−.332	−.153
Requirements for suppression of negative emotion	(.394)	(.395)	(.385)	(.396)	(.302)	(.538)	(.544)	(.535)	(.524)
Deep acting × Apology	.504				−.737**
Deep acting × Apology	(.377)				(.288)
Deep acting × Expression of positive emotion		−.318
Deep acting × Expression of positive emotion		(.319)
Deep × Expression of negative emotion						−.835**
Deep × Expression of negative emotion						(.399)
Surface × Coercion			−.176**
Surface × Coercion			(.069)
Surface × Expression of positive emotion				−.116*				−.220**
Surface × Expression of positive emotion				(.066)				(.086)
Surface × Apology							−.233**
Surface × Apology							(.099)
Surface × Suppression of negative emotion									−.282***
Surface × Suppression of negative emotion									(.099)
Intercept	4.266***	4.690***	5.037***	5.002***	5.998***	−13.828***	−14.346***	−13.471***	−13.785***
Intercept	(.854)	(.898)	(.863)	(.907)	(.654)	(1.170)	(1.112)	(1.182)	(1.127)
N	99	99	99	99	99	97	97	97	97
R ²	.15	.14	.19	.16	.22	.08	.09	.10	.12
Adjusted R²	.05	.04	.10	.07	.13	−.02	−.01	−.00	.02

p < .10. **p < .05. ***p < .01.

Limitations

Both a limitation and strength of the present study is the (un)availability of indicators that measure a range of emotional requirements encountered by officers. A strength was the ability to empirically identify a number of dimensions of requirements for expression and one dimension of suppression of emotion (negative emotions). While the dimensions selected appear to have face validity for the experience of police, it is unclear whether these items fully capture demands for expression encountered by officers. Specifically, it is unclear how the inclusion of additional items might have changed the dimensionality of required emotions. Given this, future studies should seek to evaluate a broader range of emotional demands likely to be encountered by officers through their duties.

In addition, while the present study allowed for examination of general tendencies for deep and surface acting, it did not allow for examination of specific applications of deep or surface acting with regard to specific emotions. While the results of interactions are promising, and hint at a number of interesting emotional processes within the context of policing, given the autonomy of police, being able to assess specific tendencies or demands of officers to respond to specific emotions would be highly beneficial. In other words, do officers feel compelled to, or choose to, surface act or deep act with regard to emotions like anger, sadness, frustration, and so forth? Future research could benefit from more refined indicators of both the efforts and demands of officers to experience specific emotions with various depth (i.e., surface or deep acting).

Measures of burnout were also less than ideal in the present study with a number of items from Maslach’s original instrument having been removed. While the confirmatory factor analysis of the dimensions suggests that indicators used are reliable and approximate the full indicators, the absence of specific items may have served to diminish the optimal reliability of scales (especially DP). Scale reliability has a substantial effect on the attenuation of effects, and it is possible that other effects would have emerged as significant in the present study had the sample been larger and the scales more reliable. Future studies should seek to replicate the findings presented here with more complete and reliable measures.

Lastly, the impacts of utilizing a cross-sectional design are uncertain. Past research and theory suggest that officers are likely to experience a number of transitions over the course of their careers. This is also likely to be true of emotional demands. Controls for age indicated that there were likely differences between officers of different career stages; however, it is unclear whether these were a product of uniform processes experienced by officers or merely generational differences. In addition, as a cross-sectional study of a single department, it is possible that the results themselves are an anomaly. While there is no reason to believe officers in the examined department suffer from disproportionately high or low emotional demands or burnout, and there is strong evidence that the department is typical of most departments in the United States, the generalizability is uncertain. Given this, future studies should seek to replicate the analyses presented here using both longitudinal data and a broader representation of departments.

Conclusions

The present study is the first to examine how emotional demands and strategies used by officers interact to produce various forms of burnout. These findings suggest that the impact of emotion within policing is complex, with both benefits and disadvantages for officers. Considering the degree of autonomy officers have in responding to ever shifting demands, and the unique features of the police role and police subculture, this makes a great deal of sense. As such, it is important to consider the present findings within the context of policing and in doing so examine the implications of the complexities revealed here for theory, research and practice.

With regard to the independent effects of emotional demands, only the requirement to display coercion had a significant effect, and only on DP. One factor identified by the literature that helps contextualize the findings of the present study is the fact that autonomy should matter in conditioning whether requirements to display specific emotions have benefits or disadvantages. Within the context of policing, it may be that officers feel required to display specific emotions, but these requirements emanate more from situations than they do from organizational expectations. It has been noted that the police subculture is highly ends oriented, and it may be that officers perceive the job as demanding the display of whatever emotions are necessary to achieve the objectives of the situation—thereby, the requirement to express a wide range of emotions becomes an asset for officers rather than a liability. At the same time, police culture has been widely observed to have a unique ideology that views all outsiders skeptically—or in the words of Van Maanen (1978), as assholes, suspicious persons or know-nothings. Such a worldview inherently depersonalizes anyone who comes into official contact with police. Considering this worldview and the autonomy of expressing a wide range of emotions toward recipients, there may be few systematic similarities in emotional choice contributing to the dimensions of burnout. The one exception is with regard to coercion, for which the present findings suggest that officers who are likely to perceive greater demands for coercion also suffer from higher levels of DP. This has potentially important implications for policing because it suggests that of all emotional strategies available to officers, coercion is the most likely to result in DP. In turn, high levels of DP may have a variety of other consequences for recipients. Specifically, it may result in the use of official authority without common courtesy that would ordinarily be extended to others and may even result in the violation of civil liberties. As such, future studies should more closely study the role and causality of coercive ideology among officers in relation to the perception of demands for the expression of coercion and adverse outcomes for officers and citizens.

Given the relative absence of independent effects of emotion, among the most interesting findings of the present study are the effects of deep and surface acting, especially in interaction with specific perceived emotional demands. In contrast to most past research, but consistent with Hochschild’s original hypotheses, deep acting is more consequential (except with regard to the expression of positive emotions), while surface acting seems to be beneficial for officers. Again, the autonomy, ideology, and role of police appear to be factors here. Specifically, inasmuch as policing requires that officers present specific emotions to achieve the objectives of the job, surface acting is likely to spare officers from the adverse consequences of feeling pressured to put forth a specific image. This contrasts significantly with other service occupations in which specific emotions are likely to be demanded, not by the circumstances, but by the organizations in which individuals are employed. As such, feigning things like apology, coercion, expression of positive emotion, and suppression of negative emotion allows officers to achieve the objectives of their duties. As a result, the consequences of emotional demands are not nearly as consequential for police as they may be in other service occupations.

In contrast, when officers attempt or are required to deeply feel and connect an emotion, as in the case where an apology is warranted, this moves beyond immediate instrumental objectives and requires officers to connect at a human level. Such demands are often outside of the comfort zone of officers and the usual role of police, resulting in both decreased DP and increased EE. On the other hand, deep acting is not all negative for officers. Specifically, when paired with apology, it seems to decrease DP, which can be viewed as a beneficial effect for what is often a depersonalizing bureaucratic role. In addition, deep acting interacts with the expression of positive emotion to significantly decrease the EE of officers. As such, the present findings suggest that officers who do make an authentic effort to connect to those with whom they are required to interact, especially in a positive way, are likely to derive from substantial benefits in their EE, as are their recipients from less depersonalized treatment.

Taken together, policing places officers into a depersonalizing bureaucratic role, which demands that officers employ emotions to achieve the instrumental objectives in a variety of situations, often involving tragic circumstances. In doing so, officers have a wide degree of latitude in what emotions they display and how deeply they display those emotions. Contrary to other service roles with lesser autonomy, surface acting appears to have a number of benefits for officers in that it allows officers to distance themselves from the human tragedy they encounter on a daily basis. However, such strategies are not without their consequences, potentially contributing to an overarching ideology of DP, especially inasmuch as officers perceive more situations to require coercion. Such perceptions likely emanate from and feed into a broader ideology commonly experienced and documented among police and reinforced by public and media images. However, the present findings also suggest that there may be great benefits for officers in attempting to authentically connect with those whom they encounter. Specifically, attempting to more deeply feel the positive emotions expressed toward recipients is likely to diminish the depersonalizing nature of policing and likely to contribute to the broader well-being of officers. Such efforts are highly consistent with the contemporary shift toward a more responsive and community-oriented police force. Moreover, these findings offer hope for both officers and communities that despite the negative consequences and aspects of policing, there are benefits that derive from the positive connection between police and the public, especially inasmuch as officers make a concerted effort to embrace these.

Footnotes

Appendix

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

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

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes

Author Biographies

Lonnie M. Schaible, PhD, is an assistant professor in the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver. His research interests include the impact of transitions in policing on organizations and individual officers within them. His broader interests include communities and crime, cross—national criminology, and general theory testing.

Michelle Six is a student in the University of Colorado Denver’s Masters of Criminal Justice Program.

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