Career Orientations, Satisfaction and Health among Police Officers: Some Consequences of Person-Job Misfit

Four career orientations proposed by Cherniss (1980) were related to measures of satisfaction and well-being among men and women in police work. The career orientations were Self-investors, Social Activists, Careerists, and Artisans. Self-investors, a type of nonwork orientation, reported greater burnout, greater stress, and the least satisfying work setting. In addition, Self-investors exhibited poorer individual well-being (more psychosomatic symptoms, greater negative feeling states). Careerists and Artisans reported greater work satisfaction, least burnout, the least stress, and the most positive work setting. The concept of person-job fit, with the development of the Self-investor career orientation as a consequence of person-job misfit, is proposed as an explanation of these findings.