The impact of workplace stressors on exhaustion and work engagement in policing
| Published date | 01 March 2022 |
| Author | Marisa Plater,Sara Gracey,Ian Hesketh,Yuyan Zheng,Steven Lockey,Les Graham |
| Date | 01 March 2022 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X211016532 |
| Subject Matter | Special Issue Articles |
The impact of workplace
stressors on exhaustion
and work engagement in
policing
Steven Lockey
The University of Queensland Business School, The University of
Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Les Graham
Durham University Business School, Durham University, Durham, UK
Yuyan Zheng
Sheffield University Management School, The University of Sheffield,
Sheffield, UK
Ian Hesketh
College of Policing, London, UK
Marisa Plater and Sara Gracey
Durham University Business School, Durham University, Durham, UK
Abstract
This paper uses the challenge-hindrance stressor framework to examine the impact of
challenge and hindrance stressors on police officer and staff well-being. Results of two
studies conducted in English police forces demonstrate that challenge stressors relate
positively to the effort and enthusiasm individuals invest into their work. Findings also
indicate that while challenge stressors are positively associated with exhaustion cross-
sectionally (Study 1, N¼469), they do not impact exhaustion over time (Study 2,
N¼823). Conversely, hindrance stressors cause exhaustion in the long-term and are
Corresponding author:
Ian Hesketh, College of Policing, 1-6 Citadel Place, Tinworth Street, Vauxhall, London SE11 5EF, UK.
Emails: ian.hesketh@college.pnn.police.uk; Ian.Hesketh-2@Manchester.ac.uk
The Police Journal:
Theory, Practice and Principles
ªThe Author(s) 2021
Article reuse guidelines:
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DOI: 10.1177/0032258X211016532
journals.sagepub.com/home/pjx
Special Issue: Are we OK? The State of Wellbeing in Policing
2022, Vol. 95(1) 190 –206
Lockey et al. 191
negatively associated with work engagement cross-sectionally. Implications for theory
and practice are discussed.
Keywords
Challenge-hindrance, stressors, exhaustion, work engagement, policing
Introduction
Policing is a stressful,demanding, and frequentlydangerous profession (Franket al., 2017;
Houdmont, 2017; Martinussen et al., 2007). In the United Kingdom, the PEEL report by
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS,
2017b: 7) notes thatdespite generally coping wellwith the varied and increasing demands
they face under an unprecedented period of reform, police forces in England and Wales
remain under ‘significant stress’. The HMICFRS 2017 Leadership report stresses the
importance of well-being of the workforce, observing that ‘forces need to address the
levels of stress and heavy workloads of officers and staff protecting vulnerable people’
(HMICFRS, 2018:33). Moreover, the Demand, Capacity, and Welfare Surveyundertaken
by the Police Federationof England and Wales (PFEW) report(Elliott-Davies, 2018) notes
that almost 80%of police officer respondents acknowledged experiencing stress, low
mood, anxiety, or other mental health or well-being difficulties within the previous 12
months. 94%of this sub-sample indicated that their psychological well-being issues were
caused or made worse by work (Elliott-Davies, 2018). As Hesketh and Cooper (2018: 4)
note: ‘stress cannot be separated from wellbeing, and neither should it’.
Organisational stressors can be defined as characteristics of an organisation and
conditions in the workplace that cause employees to experience stress (Violanti and
Aron, 1995). Prior research in policing has consistently supported the hypothesis that
organisational stressors have negative impacts on police officers and staff (Biggam et al.,
1997; Gershon et al., 2009; Houdmont, 2017; Shane, 2010; Zhou et al., 2002). However,
seminal work in the stress literature has suggested that there can be both positive and
negative forms of stress (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984; Selye, 1974). Furthermore, the
well-established challenge-hindrance stressor framework (Cavanaugh et al., 2000) pro-
poses that good stressors, or challenge stressors, which refer to perceptions of work-
related demands such as workload, time pressure, responsibility and job complexity, will
increase stress, but also hold the potential for increasing work motivation and perfor-
mance. On the other hand, bad stressors, or hindrance stressors, which refer to percep-
tions of work-related demands such as red tape, role ambiguity, administrative hassles,
and office politics, act as barriers to achievement and have harmful effects on employ-
ees’ wellbeing. Prior research in non-police contexts has provided support for the
challenge-hindrance stressor framework in predicting differential impacts of organisa-
tional stressors on job attitudes (Cavanaugh et al., 2000; Podsakoff et al., 2007), per-
formance (LePine et al., 2005; Zhang et al., 2014), and well-being (Crane and Searle,
2016; LePine et al., 2005; Van den Broeck et al., 2009).
2The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles XX(X)
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