INDIVIDUAL AND WORK VALUES OF POLICE OFFICERS: PECULIARITIES AND INTERRELATION

Abstract

Values can be defined as beliefs those guide the selection and evaluation of behaviours, people and events. Values can influence how an individual perceives and interprets a given situation and importance he or she gives it and react and behaves in given circumstances. The study of individual and group level values in organization is highly important because this knowledge can help managers understand and predict attitudes towards various organizational outcomes. Individual and work values system of the police officers in Lithuania is not explored. In this study, we sought to clarify the existing personal and work values of police officers because only clearly defined and identified values become the management tool to better target the desired employee behaviour. To achieve research objective the adapted version of Rokeach Value Survey (Rokeach, 1973) was used and 199 Kaunas city headquarters officers were interviewed. This paper analyzes the employees’ perception about the dominant and less important personal and work values. The results of the survey shows that police officers stressed such personal values as family security, wisdom, selfrespect, inner harmony, a sense of accomplishment and freedom. Police officers valued honesty, responsibility, capability, but not valued intellectuality, obedience, cheerfulness, broadmindedness, independence, helpfulness. The hierarchy of work values in our study shows that some values indeed have to be change to fit more organizational transformation of Lithuanian police.