Ibadan Journal of the Social Sciences
Volume 6, No. 1, 2008
Pages 12-21
DOI: 10.36108/ijss/8002.60.0120
Attitude Towards Unethical Work Behaviour among Police Personnel: The Role of Emotions
Oluyinka A. Ojedokun
Departntent of Psychology, Olabisi Onabanjo University,
Ago-lwoye, Nigeria
Abstract
While explaining the reasons for unethical behaviour among police personnel, with emphasis on training and education, the role of emotions is often neglected. This study clarifies the role of emotions in reducing unethical work behaviour by examining the influence of emotional intelligence and self-regulation on attitude towards unethical work behaviour among a sample of the Nigerian police personnel. The study adopts an ex-post facto research design to collect data from two hundred and t:.’tittv-five police personnel at Ogun State Police Headquarters, Eleweran, Abeokuta. A questionnaire consisting of four sections, for measuring emotional intelligence, self-regulation, attitude towards unethical work behaviour and demographic variables, was the instrument of data collection. Two hypotheses were tested using the stepwise multiple regression analysis and 2×2 analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results revealed that emotional intelligence, self-regulation, age, educational qualification and gender were significant predictors of attitude towards unethical work behaviour (R2: 0.66; I; (5, 219):5.66; p < .001) accounting for sixty-six percent of the variance in attitude towards unethical work behaviour. The independent predictions also showed that emotional intelligence (B:-.44; t: -5.9; p< 0.001), self-regulation (B:-.27′ t: -2.3; p<0.001), age (B=’.16′ r:-2.2; p<0.01), educational qualification B:-.15; t:-2.2; p<0.01) and gender (B: t:-2.1; p<0.01) contributed significantly to variance in attitude towards unethical work behaviour. Lastly, there was a significant influence of emotional intelligence and self-regulation on attitude towards unethical work behaviour (F [1, 221]:18.40; p<.001). These findings have implications for personality assessment of police recruits in order to reduce unethical work behaviour.
Keywords: Emotional intelligence, unethical behaviour, the Nigeria police force, self-regulation