POLICE ATTITUDES: THE IMPACT OF EXPERIENCE AFTER TRAINING

Most people believe that our attitudes, once formed, are relatively stable over time. How-ever, research reveals that attitudes can be impacted in a number of ways; and individuals may not always be consciously aware of their attitude shifts or the influences that may have triggered a change. A longitudinal study of police cadets demonstrates this phe-nomenon in a real-world setting. A survey assessing individual’s attitudes towards polic-ing and their distinctive impact or effectiveness in law enforcement was administered to a group of academy cadets. The same individuals were again assessed one year post train-ing. Their expressed attitudes on key issues had undergone considerable change, although most believed that their attitudes had remained stable. An attitude—a term originally borrowed from the nautical world—is merely a psychological predisposition to evaluate some-one or something in either a favorable or unfavorable light (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993). Attitudes can be formed in several ways includ-ing personal experience, information received through a variety of means, or accepting the statements or beliefs of others. Attitudes are social constructs that provide individuals with an efficient way to summarize their impressions of the attitude object (Olson & Zanna, 1993). However, when people are asked about their atti-tudes, the expressions they offer are self-reported, evaluative reac-tions; thus, subject to many potential biasing influences or contex-tual considerations (Schwarz, 1998)