OCCUPATIONAL STRESS AND OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS AS PREDICTORS OF EMPATHY AMONG THE NIGERIAN POLICE IN AWKA METROPOLIS

Abstract

This study investigated occupational stress and occupational hazards as predictors of empathy among Nigerian Police Personnel. The State Criminal Investigative Department (SCID) and the State Police Headquarters were selected for this study. Using incidental sampling, the participants were 117 (88 males and 29 females), having age range 23-62 years and SD 3.92; in which 101 (86.3 %) were married, 13 (11.1%) single, 1 (.9%) divorced, and 2 (1.7%) widowers. Measuring instruments were Occupational Stress Questionnaire, Occupational Hazards Questionnaire, and Toronto Empathy Questionnaire for measuring occupational stress, occupational hazards, and empathy respectively. Design was correlational design with multiple regression statistics. Findings show that occupational stress did not predict empathy (β= -.022, t=.059, p>.05), occupational hazards did not predict empathy (β= .503, t= .865, p>.05), and occupational stress and occupational hazards did not interactively predict empathy (β=.741, t=.899, p>.05). Recommendation is for empathy sensitization to be inculcated in the Nigerian Police personnel.