Male and Female Corrections Officers: Personality and Rated Performance

Abstract
The present data support a personological “type” consistent with Holland's Realistic type and also support the classification of corrections officers in this type. Noteworthy among the characteristics of corrections officers are control, low anxiety, introversion. Personality characteristics predictive of first performance ratings among male officers are intelligence, control, conservatism, and self-sufficiency. Highly rated female officers showed a generally similar pattern, but in addition differed from their male counterparts in being low on dominance and suspicion. Personality characteristics predictive of later performance ratings differed sharply from those predictive of first ratings. An hypothesis of self-selective turnover is offered to explain the variation in predictability over occasions.