Emotional and personal characteristics of stress resistance among employees of internal affairs officers

<p><strong>Context and relevance. </strong>Stress resistance is a key factor of professional efficiency and psychological well-being for law enforcement officers whose work involves exposure to chronic stressors. The study of their emotional and personal characteristics is of significant interest to occupational psychology and has important practical implications for improving professional selection and psychological support.<strong> Objective</strong>: to identify the emotional and personal characteristics of stress resistance in police officers compared to representatives of civilian professions.<strong> Hypothesis.</strong> Unlike representatives of civilian professions, the structure of stress resistance in law enforcement officers is largely determined by deep-seated personality traits (anxiety, aggression, and rigidity), rather than by situational factors. <strong> Methods and materials. </strong>The study involved 48 men (mean age 27,5 ± 2,53 years), divided into two groups: patrol and canine service officers (n = 24) and civilian professionals (tour guides, n = 24). A diagnostic battery was used: stress resistance test (Kirsheva, Ryabchikova), “Boston Stress Resistance Test (The Stress Audit)”, Spielberger-Khanin inventory, H. Eysenck's mental states diagnostic method. Statistical analysis employed the Mann-Whitney U-test and correlation analysis.<strong> Results. </strong>Police officers demonstrated significantly higher levels of stress resistance (lower scores on stress vulnerability and overall stress susceptibility scales) compared to the control group. They also showed significantly lower levels of trait and state anxiety, future-oriented anxiety, aggression, and rigidity. Correlation analysis revealed that high stress vulnerability in police officers was associated with a complex of negative personality traits: trait anxiety, aggressiveness, rigidity, and frustration. In the group of civilian professionals, stress vulnerability correlated primarily with situational factors: state anxiety and frustration.<strong> Conclusions. </strong>The stress resistance of police officers has a complex structure and is associated with low levels of trait anxiety, frustration, rigidity, and unexpressed aggressiveness. These findings highlight the importance of assessing this complex of emotional and personal characteristics during professional psychological selection for law enforcement agencies to predict success in chronic stress conditions.</p>