Predictors of Social and Defensive Coping to Address Workplace Stressors: A Comparison of Police in South Korea and the United States

This paper focuses on effects of status differences of nationality, gender, age, education, social class, rank, and in the United States, race, on comparing how police cope with workplace stressors. It also considers whether the nature of workplace stressors, a collec‐ tivist orientation, and availability of social support explain subgroup differences in how officers cope. Survey data were collected from 676 South Korean and 947 U.S. officers. Coping that relies on social relationships is much more common in South Korea than the United States, but there are not similar country differences for defensive coping, such as taking formal action. Police officers use social coping if their workplace stressors are of an interpersonal nature, if they have a collectivist orientation and if they have strong social support, but these variables do not explain the country differences. The strongest predictor of defensive coping is the presence of interpersonal workplace stressors. Discussion focuses on cultural and organizational features that might explain the national differences, and on implications for police administrators, law enforcement organizations, and future research.

Notes

The authors would like to thank Seok Jin Jeong and Dae Hoon Kwak, Michigan State University, who developed and managed the database for the research, and also Jung Mi Kim, Michigan State University, Byong Ook Moon, University of Alaska, and Dr. Young‐Nam Lee, Kwangdong University, for assistance in the development of the Korean version of the survey.

Contact information: Dr. Merry Morash, Professor, Baker Hall, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824. Telephone: [phone]. Fax: [phone]. E‐mail: morashm@ msu.edu

Contact information: Chang‐Hun Lee, Baker Hall, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824. Telephone: [phone]. Fax: [phone]. E‐mail: [email protected]

Contact information: Dr. Vincent Hoffman, Associate Professor, Baker Hall, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824. Telephone: [phone]. Fax: [phone]. E‐mail: [email protected]

Contact information: Dr. Sun Ho Cho, Professor, Chungnam University, Taejon, South Korea.

Contact information: Dr. Robin Haarr, Associate Professor, Eastern Kentucky University, 521 Lancaster Avenue, Richmond, Kentucky 40475–3102. Telephone: [phone]. Fax: [phone]. E‐mail: [email protected]