International Research Journal of Social Sciences___________________________________ _ _ ISSN 2319 – 3565 Vol. 2 ( 8 ), 5 - 14 , August (2013) I nt. Res. J. Social Sci. International Science Congress Association 5 Influence of Select Psychosocial Factors on the Psychological Well - being of Policewomen Karunanidhi S. 1 and Chitra T. 2 1 Department of Psychology, University of Madras, Chennai, INDIA 2 Consultant Psychologist, o. No. 23a, n. No. 105a, Sivan Koil Street, Kodambakkam, Chennai, INDIA Available online at: www.isca.in Received 11 th June 201 3 , revised 3 rd July 201 3 , accepted 9 th August 2013 Abstract Policewomen play a pivotal role in police department and recently there is increase in the number of policewomen joining the police force. As stress is unavoidable in the police job and women may be at increasing risk for the deleterious effects of it, it is felt that it is important to address to their well - being needs. The present study aimed at examining the influence of occupational stress, work - life balance, job attitude, and personality on the psychological well - being of women constables in Chennai Ci ty, India. The study was conducted among 826 policewomen using correlational research design using survey method. Due to incomplete information, 756 data were only included for the study. Women constables serving in various police units like Tamilnadu Spec ial Battalion, Armed Reserve, Police Stations - All Women Police Stations (AWPS) and local police stations in Chennai City were included in this study. The age of the respondents ranged from 19 years to 45 years with a mean age of 28 years. Their work exper ience ranged from 10 months to 20 years with an average experience of six years. Data were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation and Multiple Regression analysis . The results revealed that select psychosocial variables such as occupational stress, Personal Life Interference with Work (PLIW), Work/Personal Life Enhancement (WPLE), job attitude, neuroticism, openness, and conscientiousness significantly accounted for 45 percent of variance in the psychological well - being of policewomen. This study has implicat ions for recruitment and training for policewomen to enhance their psychological well - being. Keywords: Job attitude, occupational stress, policewomen, psychological well - being, work - life balance . Introduction Law enforcement is generally considered as a stressful occupation by many researchers 1 - 3 . Unlike most professions, law enforcement officers experience a variety of psychological and physical experiences 4 . They are exposed to both operational a nd organizational stressors in their job. The police job makes great demands on the mental, emotional and physical capabilities of the officers, often so stressful /that they begin to destroy the individual officer 5 . Modern Indian society with its increasing crime rates, cultural changes, and an increasing trend in terrorist activities, political upheaval, and communal riots demands a psychologically and physically healthy police force. However, the well - being of police personnel is threatened by th e very nature of the job. Hence, it becomes necessary to investigate possible psychosocial factors that would influence the psychological well - being of police personnel. The outcomes of this type of research can be used to devise strategies to improve thei r psychological health. In recent years, police departments have become increasingly concerned with the effects of occupational stress on police officers. Stress has come to be viewed as a serious problem facing law enforcement, and attempts to both under stand and remedy the problem have been undertaken. However, most of the existing research on police stress and well - being, however, pertains to male police officers. Although empirical studies are beginning to appear in police literature among policewomen, the field is still very much in its infancy. Especially, there is only negligible amount of Indian studies conducted among policewomen. Policewomen play a vital role in police force and the trend of the strength particulars over a decade in the Tamil Nad u police reveals that there is rapid increase in the recruitment of policewomen recently 6 . Women were preferred in this occupation as they possess inherent personality characteristics like maternal sympathy, instinctively relating with a person in distress , compassionate, human responsiveness, good listening etc 7 . Policewomen have these qualities to a much greater extent than policemen and they were found to be more successful than their male counterparts in investigation of crimes concerning women and chil dren 8 . The need for women police are increasing with the rise in number of women accused, criminals, and victims of crimes such as rape, kidnapping, sexual harassment, dowry deaths, etc 7 . International Research Journal of Social Sciences__ ______________ ________________________ ___________ ISSN 2319 – 3565 Vol. 2 ( 8 ), 5 - 14 , August (201 3 ) Int. Res. J. Social Sci. International Science Congress Association 6 A synthesis of policewomen and well - being literature has revealed f ew informal survey and opinion related inquiries relating to female police officers, their role in law enforcement, and the effects of police work on their lives. However, to researcher’s knowledge there have been no significant empirical studies factors i nfluencing psychological well - being of policewomen, especially in India. Studies that have had female officers as subjects have either dropped their results from the study or absorbed the data with no special consideration 9 . The number and acceptance of wo men in law enforcement has increased over the years, efforts to recognize and address additional stressors faced by women, have not increased. Lipp 10 reported that a greater proportion of females (54%) than males (40%) were found to have stress. This fin ding is supported by Brown and Fielding 11 who also reported that women uniformed officers reported higher levels of associated self - perceived stress than their male counterparts. Women reported a significantly greater number of family - related stressors tha n men. Female officers reported suffering from physical stress indicators like somatisation and health 12 - 14 . Female officers frequently reported ‘Interference with family life’ compared to men 10 . McCarty, Garland, and Zhao 15 reported that female officers m ay experience unique stressors in the police organization. It has been reported that policewomen tend to experience additional stress due to gender discrimination, minority status, negative attitude of male co - workers, sexual harassment, and night duties c ausing discord within the family etc 15,16 . Due to their job nature, policewomen find it very difficult to juggle between the demands of their family and work. These findings show that police women are at increasing risk of suffering the deleterious consequences of stress, which may affect their psychological well - being. In this scenario, it is important to pay attention to the well - being of policewomen, as they are likely to play a major role in police force in the near future. Since the importance o f well - being is very much felt and stress seems to pervade almost all areas of the life of policewomen, this study attempts to add to the sparse literature by exploring the psychosocial factors related to the psychological well - being of policewomen. Corre lates of Psychological Well - being: A large body of research is beginning to accumulate documenting an association between police stress and physical, psychological, and job – related strain 4, 15,17 . An overwhelming body of research in the past 30 years shows that police officers are at risk for physical health problems, burnout, and psychological distress as well as smoking, alcohol abuse, and suicide ideation 1,18,19 . These negative physical, psychological, and behavioural outcomes (i.e., strains) result from some of the aversive working conditions (i.e., stressors) police experience 14 . Many studies carried out in police population have considered only occupational stress in relation to psychological well - being or distress 4,15,19,20,21 . Apart from occupational stress and its negative influence on psychological well - being, work - family balance is considered as an important factor in the investigation of psychological well - being especially among policewomen. It is considered as lynchpin for a healthy and well - func tioning society 22 . Scholars in the area of work - family research have generally agreed that work - family balance is important for an individual’s psychological well - being, and that high self - esteem, satisfaction and an overall sense of harmony in life can be regarded as the markers of a successful balance between work and family roles 23,24 . Dual - career family has become a recent trend among Indian families. Policewomen are more susceptible to suffer from poor work - life balance and may eventually report poor w ell - being. The very nature of the police job, forces the police officers to work longer hours and also to work during holidays. Evidence also suggests that the absence of work – family balance, typically defined in terms of elevated work – family conflict, may undermine individual health and well - being 25 - 27 and organizational performance 28,29 . It has been reported that work - life imbalance increases stress levels and lowers quality of life 30 . Policewomen may not be able to strike a balance between their hectic w ork schedules and their family lives, especially if they are married and with children. Policewomen can be called anytime to report to duty, which would interfere with their home chores and responsibilities, especially when they live in a nuclear family sy stem without any support and understanding from their family members. This pressure to meet work demands and assume responsibility for household management and child care as well, is felt especially by women in police due to the rigid nature of their jobs and having to work 24/7. In addition to work - life balance, job attitude is currently gaining attention in the context of psychological well - being. People, especially police personnel typically spend a great deal of time at work. They have attitudes or viewpoints about many aspects of their jobs, their careers, and their organizations. Not surprisingly, work experiences are related to a number of important psychological outcomes such as life sat isfaction 31 and overall psychological functioning 32 . Traditionally utilized as a criterion measure, researchers have recently demonstrated that job satisfaction is a significant predictor of psychological well - being and of various other job characteristics 33,34 . Satisfaction on the job reflects important employee attitude towards their job 35 , indicating what makes a job enjoyable and a satisfying working environment 36 . Job satisfaction is often considered to be an indicator of an employee’s emotional well - b eing or psychological health. One of the main reasons for studying job satisfaction is undoubtedly the widely held view that whether a person is satisfied or not with their job has consequences on their health and well - being 37 - 42 . Research in India conduct ed by Nandini and Karunanidhi 43 among women International Research Journal of Social Sciences__ ______________ ________________________ ___________ ISSN 2319 – 3565 Vol. 2 ( 8 ), 5 - 14 , August (201 3 ) Int. Res. J. Social Sci. International Science Congress Association 7 police reported a positive relationship between job attitude and psychological well - being. In addition to job - related factors, personality of an individual cannot be ignored when assessing the stress of the per son, as it influences how an individual perceives and reacts to his environment 44 . Stressful events do not necessarily lead to strain. Rather, the stress process appears to be the product of a complex interplay between potentially stressful events and the psychosocial characteristics of the individual. An individual’s personality is an influential force in his or her life. Furthermore, greater work aggravations interact with certain personality variables. The inclusion of neuroticism in the evaluation of ps ychological well - being has also received recent attention 45,46 . Highly neurotic personality traits have also been linked to a higher experience of stressful situations by many researchers. Neuroticism has also been found to predispose individuals to have m ore frequent experiences of negative emotions and distress 47 . Headey and Wearing 48 also found that enduring personality characteristics, such as neuroticism and extraversion, determine people’s daily work experiences, use of coping strategies, and the lev els of psychological distress and well - being. In the literature, extraversion has been positively correlated with subjective well - being 49 , while introversion and neuroticism were associated with increased stress 50 , emotional exhaustion and depersonalisatio n 51 . DeNeve and Cooper 52 reported that openness to experience obtained the lowest correlation with each SWB index and it did not emerge as a significant predictor of subjective well - being. Further, DeNeve and Cooper 52 and Judge et al. 53 reported in their s tudies that conscientiousness had strongest positive association with life satisfaction. Ospazuk 54 found that openness and agreeableness were not related to well - being. Some researchers have proposed that there are certain personality factors that make it difficult to perform the essential functions of police work and they are the key contributors to the experience of stress. Hence, the present study attempted to find out the personality characteristics which may predispose police personnel to experience be tter/poor psychological well - being. Various demographic variables like age, experience, education, marital status, parenthood, number of children were cited in the literature in relation with psychological well - being. However, few studies were only found pertaining to police population as per researcher’s knowledge. Nandini and Karunanidhi 43 reported that women police with more experience perceived low occupational stress and better psychological well - being. Darensberg et al., 55 reported that depression an d PTSD tended to increase with age and were not explained by marital status, or education. He also found that prevalence of depression was lowest for younger officers and highest among older officers. These findings were inconclusive with respect to the ro le of demographic factors on the psychological well - being of police personnel. Hence, further investigation has to be undertaken to ascertain the role of demographic variables in the psychological well - being of policewomen. To summarize the above discussi on, the study attempts to, i. To explore the relationship of psychosocial factors such as occupational stress, work - life balance, job attitude, personality to the psychological well - being of policewomen. ii. To determine the predictors of psychological wel l - being of policewomen amongst the selected psychosocial variables such as occupational stress, work - life balance, job attitude, personality and demographic factors such as age, marital status, education, type of family, and work experience. Method ology Sample and Study Site: The study was conducted among 826 policewomen of Chennai and Chennai suburban City, using correlational research design using survey method. According to the Handbook on Police Department, Tamil Nadu State, as of January 2009 6 , major ity of policewomen were employed in Constable Rank . Data were collected from women in Constables rank working in Chennai City and Suburban. According to the same source, majority of the policewomen strength is found in Chennai City, which is a major metrop olitan city and capital of Tamil Nadu state. Data were collected from policewomen who belonged to various police units such as Tamilnadu Special Police (Battalions), Armed Reserve, All women police stations and Local police stations. It was ensured that th e percentage of the estimated sample represented their actual distribution in the population. Initially, Commissioner of Police and Inspector General of Police - Armed Police in Chennai were approached to obtain permission. The details about the study and the scope of the research were explained to them. Upon their consent for the research, secondary data were collected for research purpose. Based on the obtained data, the study site and sample were estimated. The researcher fixed a day that was mutually co nvenient to both the investigator and the police officials in each location. On the day of data collection, the research team met a group of policewomen, in a place arranged by the police department. It was emphasized that participation was entirely volunt ary and anonymous. They were also asked for their consent to participate in the survey prior to the distribution of the booklet. The need and significance of the study were thoroughly explained to the policewomen and they were motivated to take part in the survey. The survey was conducted among 826 policewomen in Chennai City and the Suburban. The data collection commenced on October 2009 and was completed by March 2010. However, 756 survey were only usable due to incomplete information. The personal charac teristics of the sample are given in table No.1. International Research Journal of Social Sciences__ ______________ ________________________ ___________ ISSN 2319 – 3565 Vol. 2 ( 8 ), 5 - 14 , August (201 3 ) Int. Res. J. Social Sci. International Science Congress Association 8 Table - 1 Personal Characteristics of the Respondents (N=756) Sl. No Variable Category No. of respondents % 1 Age 23 Years 215 28.4% 24 – 30 Years 360 47.6% � 30 Years 181 23.9% 2 Work experience 0.9 Years 192 25.4% 0.10 – 7 Years 385 50.9% � 7 Years 179 23.7% 3. Education High school 341 45.1% Undergraduate 291 38.5% Postgraduate 124 16.4% 4. Marital status Married 344 45.5 % Unmarried 398 52.7 % Widow 12 1.6% Divorcee 1 .1% Remarried 1 .1% 5. Family type Joint 312 41.3% Nuclear 444 58.7% 6. Place of work City 614 81.2 % Suburban 142 18.8 % 7. Grade level Grade - I 151 20 % Grade - II 605 80 % 8. Police unit TSP 344 45.5 % AR 233 30.8 % AWPS 122 16.1 % LPS 57 7.5 % Note. TSP – Tamil Nadu Special Police; AR – Armed Reserve; AWPS – All Women Police Station; LPS – Local Police Station Measures : The tools used for the study were Overall Job Satisfaction scale by Brayfield and Rothe 56 to measure job attitude, Occupational Stress Inventory by Karunanidhi and Chitra 57 , Work - life balance by Hayman 58 , NEO - FFI Form S by Costa and McCrae 59 to measure personality characteristics and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ - 12) by Goldber g 60 to measure psychological well - being. The occupational stress inventory has 71 items with six dimensions namely, operational hassles, external factors, hazards of occupation, physical working condition, women related stress, and supervisory stress. The work - life balance comprised three dimensions namely, Work Interference with Personal Life (WIPL), Personal Life Interference with Work (PLIW) and Work/Personal Life Enhancement (WPLE). Personality comprised five factors namely, neuroticism, extraversion, o penness, conscientiousness, and agreeableness. Job attitude and Psychological well - being measures were uni - dimensional. All the questionnaires were translated into the regional language Tamil, except for Occupational Stress Index (OSI) which was already st andardized in Tamil language, exclusively developed for policewomen population by the authors of this study. Content validity was established for the Tamil version of all 4 questionnaires with the help of three experts in the field based on their judgment on relevance and ambiguity of the items. Reliability was also established for all the translated scales before the main study. The internal consistency for psychological well - being and job attitude was α = .86 and α = .89 respectively. The alpha coefficien t ranged from .71 - .81 for work - life balance scale and it ranged from .70 - .73 for the personality inventory. The internal consistency of all the tools for the present study is furnished in table no .2. Other relevant data like age, experience, marital status and type of family were also collected from the personal data sheet. Data Analysis : The scores of the sample in the present study were normally distributed. Descriptive statistics were applied to the data and the data were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation and Regression analysis to test the hypotheses. The Variance Inflation Factor (V IF) was used to detect for high collinearity between any variables used for multiple regression analysis. In the regression analysis for the prediction of psychological well - being, dimensions of the occupational stress showed high multicollinearity. Based on these findings, the dimensions of occupational stress were combined as a single variable. This variable was only used in the regression analysis to find out the predictors of psychological well - being. Moreover, age was not included in the analysis as hi gh positive relationship was observed between age and experience ( r = 0.88). So, work experience was only included in the regression analysis. After these changes, there were no multicollinearity issues in the data. International Research Journal of Social Sciences__ ______________ ________________________ ___________ ISSN 2319 – 3565 Vol. 2 ( 8 ), 5 - 14 , August (201 3 ) Int. Res. J. Social Sci. International Science Congress Association 9 Results and Discussion Results: The r esults showed that age range of the respondents ranged from 19 years to 45 years with a mean age of 28 years. Their work experience ranged from 10 months to 20 years with an average experience of six years. With regard to education, 16.4 percent have done their post graduation, and 38.5 percent were undergraduates. The majority of the respondents (45.1%) have completed their high school. Out of 756 respondents, 344 (45.5%) of them were married, 398 (52.7%) were unmarried. The remaining 14 respondents belong ed to categories such as widow (1.6%), divorcee (.1%), and remarried (.1%). More than half of the respondents (59%) were from nuclear families and 41 percent were from joint families. Eighty one percent of the respondents worked in City and 18.8 percent wo rked in Suburban areas. Eighty percent of the respondents were Grade II Constables and 20 percent were Grade I Constables. Forty six of the respondents belonged to Tamil Nadu Special Police, followed by 30.8 percent in Armed Reserve. Further, 16.1 percent belonged to All Women Police Stations, while 7.5 percent belonged to Local Police Stations. Table - 2 shows the Mean, Standard Deviation and also Cronbach alpha values of all the variables in the study. Table - 3 shows the correlation analysis depicting the relationship between the psychosocial factors and psychological well - being. Occupational stress and its dimensions were found to be negatively and significantly related to psychological well - being. Further, wo rk - life balance and job attitude were positively and significantly related to psychological well - being. The table shows that neuroticism, one of the big - five personality factors had strong and significant negative relationship with psychological well - being . Further, extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were positively and significantly related to psychological well - being. However, openness showed negative but insignificant relation with psychological well - being. Table - 4 shows the ANOVA for re gression on psychological well - being. Table - 5 shows the Regression co - efficients and t - values of the variable which revealed that, of the 14 variables, the following seven variables namely occupational stress, job attitude, personal life interference with work (PLIW), work/personal life enhancement (WPLE), neuroticism, openness and conscientiousness accounted for 45 percent of variance in the psychological well - being of policewomen. None of the demographic variables contributed significantly to the psycholo gical well - being of policewomen. Table - 2 Descriptive Statistics and Alpha Coefficients of the Variables in the Study (N=756) Sl. No Variable M SD Cronbach’s α 1 Psychological well - being 22.39 6.94 .86 2 Occupational stress 88.44 34.95 .91 2.1 Operational hassles 13.49 10.12 .90 2.2 External factors 11.33 5.75 .83 2.3 Hazards of occupation 22.22 7.42 .89 2.4 Physical working condition 14.23 6.10 .85 2.5 Women related stress 14.84 6.48 .87 2.6 Supervisory stress 12.34 7.19 .88 3 Work life balance 23.46 8 .82 3.1 Work Interference With Personal Life (WIPL) 8.69 4.05 .71 3.2 Personal life interference with work (PLIW) 8.41 2.89 .77 3.3 Work/Personal Life Enhancement (WPLE) 6.36 3.53 .81 4 Job attitude 33.68 10.78 .89 5 Personality - - - 5.1 Neuroticism 23.02 7.73 .71 5.2 Extraversion 28.96 5.07 .70 5.3 Openness 23.46 4.41 .71 5.4 Agreeableness 32.40 5.13 .72 5.5 Conscientiousness 39.02 5.63 .73 International Research Journal of Social Sciences__ ______________ ________________________ ___________ ISSN 2319 – 3565 Vol. 2 ( 8 ), 5 - 14 , August (201 3 ) Int. Res. J. Social Sci. International Science Congress Association 10 Table - 3 Relationship of Psychosocial Factors to Psychological Well - being of Policewomen Sl. No Variables Psychological well - being 1 Occupational stress - .33** 1.1 Operational hassles - .08* 1.2 External factors - .18** 1.3 Hazards of occupation - .38** 1.4 Physical working condition - .28** 1.5 Women related stress - .38** 1.6 Supervisory stress - .37** 2 Work life balance .46** 2.1 Work Interference With Personal Life (WIPL) .35** 2.2 Personal life interference with work (PLIW) .38** 2.3 Work/Personal Life Enhancement (WPLE) .35** 3 Job satisfaction .48** 4 Personality factors - 4.1 Neuroticism - .58** 4.2 Extraversion .28** 4.3 Openness - .06 NS 4.4 Agreeableness .26** 4.5 Conscientiousness .36** ** p .01 , * p 05 , NS – Not Significant Table - 4 ANOVA for Regression on Psychological Well - being Source of variation Sum of squares df Mean square F Regression 16111.72 15.00 1074.12 39.17 ** Residual 19906.80 726.00 27.42 Total 36018.52 741.00 - ** p .01, Multiple correlation co - efficient R = 0.669 , Co - efficient of determination R² = 0.45 Table - 5 Psychosocial Predictors of Psychological Well - being of Policewomen S. No. Independent Variable Regression Co - efficient t 1 Neuroticism 0.38 10.99** 2 Personal Life Interference with Work (PLIW) 0.11 3.28** 3 Occupational stress 0.11 2.84* 4 Job attitude 0.10 2.35* 5 Conscientiousness 0.08 2.23* 6 Work/Personal Life Enhancement (WPLE) 0.07 2.04* 7 Openness 0.06 2.16* 8 Work experience 0.06 1.55 NS 9 Work Interference with Personal Life (WIPL) 0.05 1.30 NS 10 Extraversion 0.05 1.49 NS 11 Education 0.03 1.03 NS 12 Marital status 0.03 0.75 NS 13 Family type 0.03 0.91 NS 14 Agreeableness 0.02 0.71 NS ** p 0.01 , * p 0.05 , NS - Not Significant Discussion : The study attempted to find out the psychosocial determinants of psychological well - being among policewomen. Unlike studies considering solely the occupational stress in well - being investigations, the present study probed into other essential aspects relat ed to psychological well - being of policewomen namely, work - life balance, job attitude, and International Research Journal of Social Sciences__ ______________ ________________________ ___________ ISSN 2319 – 3565 Vol. 2 ( 8 ), 5 - 14 , August (201 3 ) Int. Res. J. Social Sci. International Science Congress Association 11 personality. The study conceived all important domains viz., organizational, family and personal factors in the prediction of psychological well - being of policewomen . The occupational stress and all its dimensions were inversely related to the psychological well - being of policewomen. The dimensions of occupational stress namely, women related stress, hazards of occupation and supervisory stress showed strong negative relationship with psychological well - being of policewomen, compared to other dimensions of occupational stress. This indicates that women constables who reported to experience stress arising out of occupational hazards like unable to take food on time, lon g hours of work, disturbed sleep, working in shift etc., and women related stress like working during menstruation, facing negative attitude of co - workers due to their gender etc., may tend to experience poor psychological well - being. Hazards of occupation , women related stress and supervisory stress were often quoted in the literature as important sources of police stress 16, 61 . Further, regression analysis also proved that occupational stress has a negative influence on the psychological well - being of po licewomen. Many empirical studies carried out in police population supported this finding 4, 43,62 - 64 . This indicates that policewomen experiencing high levels of occupational stress would more likely have poor psychological well - being and develop minor psy chological distress. This finding is apparent as policewomen are exposed to routine stressors as a result of their occupation like working continuously without break, working during holidays, facing conflicts with public, dealing with various demanding sit uations, shift work, which would have negative impact on their well - being. Personal life interference with work and work/personal life enhancement contributed to the psychological well - being of policewomen in the present study. The finding regarding the influencing role of work - life balance in psychological well - being was confirmed by various other research findings 2, 65 . This finding reveals that policewomen with low levels of w ork - life balance would more likely perceive poor psychological well - being. Th ey have to work in shift system causing disturbances in their sleep rhythms, personal problems like worries about staying away from family might interfere with their work, causing work - life imbalance. Due to these imbalances in time sharing between work an d family, they may have poor psychological well - being. In the present study, the demographic profile shows that 54% of the respondents were unmarried and 46% of policewomen get to stay in quarters away from their family. This statistic may mean that most o f the policewomen in the study do not actually need to spend much time for their family. This could be a possible explanation for the finding that work interference with their personal life did not contribute to their psychological well - being. The finding that policewomen with unfavorable j ob attitude were more likely to have poor mental health is also supported by many previous studies 33 - 66 . Policewomen may have unfavorable job attitude due to lack of interest in their job and because of choosing this career due to family situation and poor financial status. Further, policewomen with favorable attitude towards their job in their initial career period also might have drifted to hold unfavorable attitude in the course of time due to negative organizational and work experiences they confront during their tenure. As a result, they might not be satisfied with their job and eventually perceive distress in every aspects of their job they are exposed to, resulting in their poor mental health. Amon g the Big - five personality factors studied, neuroticism, conscientiousness and openness contributed to the psychological well - being of policewomen. This indicates that policewomen with certain personality characteristics like high neuroticism, low conscien tiousness, and high openness will more likely have poor psychological well - being. This finding regarding the negative influence of neuroticism on psychological well - being is supported by many previous findings 52, 63, 67, 68 . People with the personality cha racteristic of neuroticism easily experience unpleasant emotions such as anxiety, anger, or depression. As they tend to view stimuli as threat, they eventually perceive stress when they encounter various day - to - day challenging situations in police job. Thi s would in turn affect their psychological well - being too. The finding that openness negatively influenced psychological well - being was not supported by many studies. The studies in the literature consistently did not show any association between openne ss trait of personality and psychological well - being 52, 54 . DeNeve and Cooper 52 noted that "Openness to Experience is a 'double - edged sword' that predisposes individuals to feel both the good and the bad more deeply" rendering its directional influence on affective reactions like subjective well - being or job satisfaction unclear. In the present study it was found that policewomen with openness personality characteristic may most likely experience poor psychological well - being. As Ospazuk 54 and DeNeve 52 obs erved, individual with such intellect may experience more intense emotions in a stressful job like police, which may predispose them to experience poor well - being. It was also found that policewomen with high conscientiousness were likely to have better ps ychological well - being. The characteristic of conscientiousness like being cautious, dependable, organized, disciplined etc is very much expected in a job like police. This could be the reason why the police women with such characteristic experienced bette r well - being. This finding is also supported by previous findings 52, 69. . The personality characteristics like agreeableness and extraversion did not contribute to psychological well - being of policewomen. This finding regarding extraversion is contrary to many findings which contend that extraversion positively influences psychological well - being 54, 68 . However, Garretto 69 found that neuroticism was the stronger predictor of life satisfaction and job satisfaction, rather than extraversion. Policewomen in th e present study perform their duties in isolation most of the time and hence do not have the opportunity for much interaction with International Research Journal of Social Sciences__ ______________ ________________________ ___________ ISSN 2319 – 3565 Vol. 2 ( 8 ), 5 - 14 , August (201 3 ) Int. Res. J. Social Sci. International Science Congress Association 12 their co - workers. This could be the reason for why agreeableness and extraversion personality characteristic did not contribu te to the psychological well - being of policewomen. Moreover, none of the demographic variables contributed to the psychological well - being of policewomen. The literature also did not show any consistent results regarding the role of demographic variables i n the psychological well - being of police personnel. With regard to future research, it is recommended to use the path model to find any mediating and moderating effects of the variables in the study on psychological well - being. Moreover, longitudinal desi gns should be considered in the investigation of the causality. This study contributes to an understanding of the role of work - life balance and personality characteristics in the investigation of psychological well - being of policewomen. Conclusion When considering the practical implications disclosed in the study, some conclusions and recommendations can be made in support of the research. It can be concluded that policewomen experience negative effects from stressors in their occupation. Further, j ob attitude and work - life balance was found to have profound positive influence on psychological well - being of policewomen. Certain personality characteristics such as high emotional stability (low neuroticism), low openness and high conscientiousness also have positive influence on psychological well - being of policewomen. This study has implications for interventions in the form of stress management programs, training for building positive attitude towards job and enactment of work - life balance policies b y the organization. Moreover, the study has implication for using personality test during the recruitment of women constables, for screening individuals with high neuroticism, as this personality characteristic has been found to have a profound negative in fluence on their well - being. All this would minimize the risk of occupational stress among policewomen. The present study’s results underscore the need to reevaluate police training of recruits at the police academy to ensure that they get the training nec essary to meet the daily challenges and demands of police work. References 1. Anshel M.H., A Conceptual Model and Implications for Coping With Stressful Events in Police Work, Criminal justice and Behavior , 27(3) , 375 - 400 (2000) 2. Berg, A.M., Hem E., Lau B. and Ekeberg Ø ., An Exploration of Job Stress and Health in the Norwegian Police Service: A Cross Sectional Study, Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology , 1 , 26 (2006) 3. 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