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The impact of Chinese culture and work environment on police officers’ job satisfaction
in Taiwan
by
Tzu-Rung Yao Wu, Ph. D.
Taiwan Police College
Taipei City, Taiwan 116
886-2-22300763
Yung-Lien Lai, Ph. D.
Department of Crime Prevention and Corrections
Central Police University
Taoyuan, Taiwan 333
886-3-3282321#4765
Jihong Solomon Zhao, Ph. D.
College of Criminal Justice
Sam Houston State University
816 17th
Street, Huntsville, TX 77341
936-294-4940
Corresponding author.
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The impact of Chinese culture and work environment on police officers’ job satisfaction
in Taiwan
ABSTRACT
Job satisfaction is an enduring topic that has drawn considerable attention among police
administrators, specifically after the movement of community policing (COP) since the 1980s.
Following this line of research in U.S., a number of studies has examined Taiwanese policing
since the 1990s. One area, however, that has been largely overlooked concerns the value
orientation of employees, specifically culture-based values. To fill this gap, this research expands
the previous literature by examining the relative effects of demographics, organizational factors,
and Chinese cultural values (e.g., Zhong Yong) on job satisfaction among Taiwan’s police officers.
Using data collected from a self-reported survey of 879 first-line police officers in three big
counties, namely Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung in 2009, the results of SEM indicated that
while being married and those who perceived high levels of Chinese obedience and tolerance,
Chinese endurance, and motivating potential score (MPS) had a significantly direct and positive
impact on job satisfaction. In addition, those who reported to have high levels of Zhong Yong
personality reported lower levels of job satisfaction.
Keywords: job satisfaction, Chinese cultural values, police, Zhong Yong (Golden Mean), job
meaningfulness
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The impact of Chinese culture and work environment on police officers’ job satisfaction
in Taiwan
INTRODUCTION
Job satisfaction is an important topic that has drawn considerable attention among police
administrators (Zhao, Thurman, & He, 1999). It makes sense that police officers who are
satisfied with their jobs are more like to perform tasks well and commit themselves to the overall
mission of the organization (Miller, Mire, & Kim, 2009). A growing body of research has
examined the various sources, correlates, and consequences of police job satisfaction (Dowler,
2005). There has been a large body of literature on this topic, and most of them focus on two
areas: factors associated with an employee’s demographics and work environment related factors
(Jayaratne, 1993 Johnson, 2012). For example, Zhao et al. (1999) noted that there was very
limited research on the influence of value orientation on police officers’ job satisfaction while
most studies were likely to use individual officers’ educational, ethnicity, gender, and rank/years
of service as explanatory variables. Most importantly, they found that the impact of demographic
on employees’ job satisfaction is rather limited, whereas work environment contributes
significantly. Similarly, , Brody, Demarco, and Lovrich (2002) suggested that research on police
job satisfaction shifted from demographics to work-related factors because COP either improve
work environment and enhance employees’ job satisfaction. For example, in their comparison of
demographics and work-related factors, Zhao et al. (1999) found that the measures of work
environment were significant predictors of police officers’ job satisfaction. In contrast, the
contribution of demographic variables was rather limited. They concluded that work
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environment is closely associated with police officers’ job satisfaction (see also, Wycoff &
Skogan, 1993).
An important area, however, that has largely overlooked in the research on job satisfaction
concerns the value orientation among employees, specifically culture-based values (Dowler,
2005). Human values are a representation of our views about the world and often dictate our
behaviors in many ways. In an organizational setting, values can be perceived as conscious,
affective (emotion-laden) desire or wants. It is widely acknowledged that values shape
organizational behaviors (Ott, 1989). While some recent studies examine the impact of
personality on job performance among police officers (e.g., Hart, Wearing, & Headey, 1994;
Miller et al., 2009), research on officers’ value orientation is rare, suggesting additional research
is warranted.
The purpose of this study is to examine job satisfaction among police officers in Taiwan.
Specifically, the impact of Chinese values that police officers have on their job satisfaction is
investigated. The factors of demographics and work environment are included in this analysis.
Accordingly, the current study makes three important contributions to the policing literature on
job satisfaction. First, the influence of Chinese traditional culture on individual behaviors is
significant and noticeable. For over three thousand years of Chinese history, distinctive culture
and values have been preserved and passed over generation after generation despite that the
change in political regimes. It is important to explore the role of values among police officers
and job satisfaction in a formal organization, police agencies. Second, Chester Barnard (1938)
identified the existence of informal organization and forcefully argued that formal organization
arises from informal organization. Different from formal organization that can be identified in
the chart and policies, informal organization such as values, culture, and pattern of
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communication are rather invisible but it plays a crucial role to maintain a healthy development
of any organization. For example, police training manual in Taiwan does not specifically mention
about traditional Chinese values, but they are omnipresent and able to influence the decision
making among police officers. Finally, we included multiple values that are salient in Chinese
culture and make use of path analysis to examine the impact of Chinese values, work
environment, and demographics on job satisfaction.
LITERATURE REVIEW
James Q. Wilson (1989) defined organizational culture as “a persistent, patterned way of
thinking about the central tasks of and human relationships within an organization” (p.91).
Culture is to organization what personality is to an individual (Ott, 1989). Culture is passed on
from one generation to the next. Similarly, organizational culture is a social energy that moves
people to act. “Culture is to the organization what personality is to the individual- a hidden, yet
unifying theme that provides meaning, direction, and mobilization”(Kilmann and associates, 1985,
p. ix). Culture is an unseen and unobservable force that always influences organizational
activities. Organizational culture offers a fresh look at the behaviors of its members (Ott, 1989).
In terms of shared values and beliefs, they are the basic components of organizational culture.
Davis (1984) defined them as “the ethical underpinnings for why resources are allocated as they
are and the ultimate principles by which organizational choice are made” (p.121). Although
beliefs and values are used interchangeably, but there is a distinctive difference. Beliefs are what
people cognitively think to be true or not true, realities or non-realities in their minds, whereas
values are conscious and affective (emotion-laden) desire or wants that are important to people
(Gardner, 1987).
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Chinese culture is one of the world's oldest cultures and has its influence on a large
geographical region in eastern Asia. Important components of Chinese culture include social
structure, value, language, literature, music, visual arts, martial arts, cuisine, etc. (Alon, 2003).
While Judaeo - Christian tradition has been the dominant culture in the Western societies,
Confucianism has been the authoritative values or moral principles that have guided people’s
attitudes and behaviors in the almost all of the East Asian countries. While living in a chaotic and
violent China in the fifth century, Confucius (551-479BC) was a great Chinese thinker and social
philosopher, devoting himself to find a way build a peaceful, civilized, and virtuous society
(Yun, 2008) . Confucius believed that all humans are good at birth, and there is no original sin or
evil. Any person could become virtuous through appropriate moral education (Berthrong &
Berthrong, 2000; Yao, 2000). Hence, in Confucius’ idea, an educated person has to promote
group harmony and collective interests as the most important goal in a human society. People
living in such a society are expected to avoid confrontation, follow the majority, resolve disputes
by negotiation, and search for solution that would serve all interested parties rather than a total
victory for one side and a total defeat for the other side (Berthrong & Berthrong, 2000; Yao,
2000). In other words, Confucius regarded “order” as a keyway to maintain societal harmony.
More specifically, Confucius proposed “five-ethic doctrines” to regulate the relationships
among social behaviors in a civilized society, namely (1) between ruler and subordinator; (2)
between parent and child; (3) between marital relationship; (4) between the elderly and younger;
and (5) between friends. Yet, such a “five-ethic doctrines” do not mean an oppressive
relationship where the higher groups (e.g., rulers, husbands, and parents) control the lower ones
(e.g., subordinators, wives, and children) or take advantages of the offered deference. Instead,
those on a higher rung of social hierarchy should, with strong moral standard, guide, educate, and
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look after those who are at a lower status. Confucius believed, such a social-moral standards that
regulate relations between individuals ultimately extend to the mode of governing an entire nation
(Berthrong & Berthrong, 2000; Yao, 2000; Yun, 2008). Many western scholars noted that East
Asian societies are characterized by stronger collectivism derived from Confucianism (Bayley,
1994; Braithwaite, 1989; Hofstede, 1983; MacFarquhar, 1980; Reid, 1999). Pursuant to
Confucian teachings on group harmony, Asian people are taught to fit into a group environment
and to follow the goals set by groups such as family, school, and workplace (Bayley, 1994).
Becoming part of a group engenders an emotional satisfaction to East Asians (Yun, 2008).
Golden Mean, in Chinese named Zhong Yong, refers to literally “Middle of the road.” In
Chinese ancient times, it was viewed as the highest moral standards developed by Confucianists
to rule and regulate individual manners and behaviors. It refers to a personality that Chinese
should observe in his/her located environment (e.g., workplace), coordinate and balance the
relationships between those the conflicts and contradictories, and then make a final and practical
decision or plan to seek a balanced thought and standard. The features of “Golden Mean”
reflecting in an organizational culture include the compromising well with others, no showing off
and competing with others, toeing the line without bias and favor, and finishing his/her own job.
Those people who have the personality of “Golden Mean” are less likely to take advantages of
fellow coworkers. Supervisors can rely on them to work harmoniously to pursue organizational
goals. On the other hand, employees with the values of Golden Mean tend to be less creative,
particularly in a dynamic organizational environment (Tu, 1996; Yao, 2000). As a result, the
organizational culture can be conservative, “neutral,” and being hesitant without advance.
Obedience, tolerance, and endurance. Obedience, in human behavior, is a form of “social
influence in which a person yields to explicit instructions or orders from an authority figure”
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(Andrew, 2009). Obedience is generally distinguished from compliance, which is behavior
influenced by peers, and from conformity, which is behavior intended to match that of the
majority. Tolerance is a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions,
practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own (Andrew, 2009). Endurance
refers to an ability or strength to continue or last, especially despite fatigue, stress, other adverse
conditions (Andrew, 2009). Normally, these personalities are regarded as the Chinese values
derived from Confucius’s collectivism philosophy. For example, Berger (1983) and MacFarquhar
(1980) examined the relationship between Confucianism and economic dynamics among Eastern
societies (i.e., Hong Kong, Japan, S. Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan) and found that the cultural
values including ethics, discipline, diligence, and obedience lead of those Eastern Asians
engender a great economic growth among those societies. In addition, Wong (1986) indicated that
paternalistic management and patriarchal leading style are very popular among enterprise
workplace in Hong Kong. For example, he found that employees have been demanded to show
their obedience. Most importantly, employees are required to spend more lasting time on their
job positions and subordinate their welfare benefits, personal interests under the organizational
goals and interests. Those managerial leaders believe and cultivate their employees that “Scarify
myself to accomplish the great mission” (Yao Wu, 2010).
Job dimensions. While Chinese values impact job performance among employees,
western scholars also emphasize work environment, specifically job meaningless has significant
influences on job satisfaction (Zhao et al., 1999). One of the most influential models for
investigating the impact on job satisfaction was developed by Hackman and Oldham (1975).
They identified five “core” dimensions for evaluating the immediate work environment and
found that these core dimensions were correlated significantly with job satisfaction. Key among
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the underlying characteristics are job meaningfulness (to what extent the individual perceives the
work as significant and important), job responsibility (how far the individual feels personally
accountable for the outcomes of the work), and the extent to which the employee has knowledge
about the results of his or her efforts.
Among those key characteristics, job meaningfulness is conceptualized as the product of
three dimensions which are defined as follows: Skill variety (dimension 1) refers to the degree to
which a job requires a variety of different activities in carrying out the work, which involves the
use of a number of different skills and talents of the employee. Task identify (dimension 2) means
the extent to which the job requires completion of a “whole,” identifiable piece of work-that is,
doing a job from beginning to end with a visible outcome. Task significance (dimension 3) refers
to how substantially the job affects other people’s lives- whether in the immediate organization or
in the external environment. Responsibility is based on the extent of the employee’s autonomy
(dimension 4) over how he or she will perform the work. Knowledge of results comes from
feedback (dimension 5) to the employee about the effectiveness of his/her efforts (Hackman &
Oldham, 1975).
Since the 1970s, the model for measuring core job dimensions (JDS) and their
relationship to job motivation and satisfaction has been examined extensively and applied to
different work environments (Griffin and McMahan, 1994; Harvey, Billings, & Nilan, 1985;
Idaszak & Drasgow, 1987; Kulik, Oldham, & Langner, 1988), including the public sector in
general (Lee & Klein, 1982). Researchers have studied the relationship between job dimensions,
employees’ motivation, and job satisfaction in the field of corrections (Zupan & Menke, 1988)
and police organization (Lurigio & Skogan, 1994; Miller et al., 2009; Zhao, He, & Lovrich, 2002).
For example, using data with 199 sworn officers collected from a police department in
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Washington State, Zhao et al. (1999) found that, among five job dimensions, skill variety, task
identify, task significance, and autonomy had great impacts on job satisfaction among those
officers.
METHODOLOGY
Research setting
Data for the study were collected from three Taiwanese counties, Taipei, Taichung, and
Kaohsiung in 2009. With a population of more than 3.8 million, Taipei County is the largest one
among 18 counties in Taiwan. The county is located in the northern coastline of the Taiwanese
Island and surrounds the Taipei Basin. Currently, TPPD consists of headquarters, 16 districts
(precincts), and 153 storefronts staffed by more than 7,000 sworn officers.
Taichung County is located in the central part of Taiwan and surrounds the Taichung city.
The county occupies an area about the same with Taipei County but its population of 1.5 million
is only on a half of Taipei’s. Taichung County Police Department (TCPD) performs the policing
function in the county and it comprised of headquarters, 8 districts (precincts), and 83 storefronts
staffed by 2,844 sworn officers.
Kaohsiung County is located in the southern of Taiwan. With a population of more than
1.2 million, the county is the largest one among three counties but its population is about one
thirds of Taipei’s. Similarly, Kaohsiung County Police Department (KHPD) is in charge of
policing business and comprised headquarters, 7 districts (precincts), and 85 storefronts staffed
by 2,579 sworn officers during the period of survey.
The participants
All participants included in this study were sworn officers who served in these three
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county police departments located in Taiwan. Due to Taiwan’s geographic and land-developing
features, because the eastern part of the island is extremely mountainous, most business and
agricultural activities occur in the western part of the country. Therefore, Taiwan was divided into
three geographic regions: Northern, Central, and Southern. To compare the differences between
geographical locations and departments, this researcher selected one police department in each
region that included the counties of Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung which consist of the largest
number of sworn officers in each geographic region. Within each police department, the
researcher stratified the sub-units (police precincts and corps) into four levels according to the
populated-density with information provided by the Personnel Office of the National Police
Agency. Next, the researcher surveyed officers within the selected police precincts of each level
and corps of each police department. For the sake of anonymity, conductors administered the
survey primarily during on-the-job training when officers were assembled in groups or at other
appropriate times if training schedules proved to be problematic. While English and Chinese
versions were developed by researchers based on literature and previous studies, only the Chinese
version was distributed to surveyed officers to ensure that they understood the purpose of this
study, the duration of the survey, and the voluntary and anonymous issues. Given the availability
of the conductors who administered the survey as well as the availability of sworn officers in
each local police department, approximately eight to twelve percent of sworn officers in those
departments were surveyed. As depicted in Table 1, a total of 1,150 questionnaires were
distributed and 1,025 (response rate was 89%) were collected. After deleting some invalided
questionnaires, 879 respondents (adjust response rate was 76%) were collected in the final
analysis.
Dependent variable
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In current study the researchers used three items as a scale to capture police officers job
satisfaction by asking: (1) I feel that my work is meaningful; (2) I like the kind of work I am
doing; (3) Generally speaking, I am satisfied with my job. The scale of job satisfaction was
calculated as the sum of scores of three items divided by three. A higher score on the scale
indicated that respondent would likely satisfy the job. The Cronbach’s alpha was 0.85 with an
Eigen value of 2.31 (see Table 2).
Exploratory variables
In the current study, exploratory variables were classified into three groups: Chinese work
value, motivating potential score, and control variables. First, three scales were used to measure
individual perceptions of Chinese work value factors concerning the primary sources of job
satisfaction for police officers: Golden mean (Zhong Yong), endurance, and obedience and
tolerance. The researchers designed seven items to capture each respondent’s personality by
asking: I am someone who (1) is talkative; (2) is reserved; (3) tends to be disorganized; (4) tends
to be quiet; (5) is sometimes shy, inhibited; (6) is outgoing, sociable; (7) gets nervous easily.
Response categories ranged on a continuum scale from 1 (strongly disagree), 2 (disagree), 3
(neither disagree nor agree), 4 (agree) to 5 (strongly agree). A review of the literature suggests
that golden mean refers to “take the middle of the road.” Accordingly, those who answered 3
(neither disagree nor agree) in each item were recoded as 1 representing levels of golden mean
(Zhong Yong) personality, and the other values were recoded as 0 representing levels of non-
Zhong Yong personality. A higher score on this scale indicated that respondent would be more
likely to hold higher levels of Zhong Yong personality.
A 4-item scale measured an individual’s perceptions of endurance as the second
dimension of Chinese work value by asking respondents: (1) I agree that endurance is the
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foundation to success; (2) I agree that long-term orientation leads to success; (3) I agree that
hardworking conquers difficulty; (4) No pain, no gain is very true. Response categories ranged
on a continuum scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). This scale was calculated
as the sum of scores of the four items divided by four. A higher score on the scale indicated that
the respondent would be more likely to report higher levels of endurance in a workplace. The
Cronbach’s alpha was 0.84 with an Eigen value of 2.73(see Table 2).
Similarly, a 4-item scale measured the employees’ perceptions of obedience and tolerance
as the third dimension of Chinese work value. The scale was created by asking respondents to
react to the following statements: (1) I agree that supervisors should adopt authoritarianism; (2)
Subordinates should give their loyalty and obedience to their supervisors; (3) I agree that public
interests are more important than personal ones; (4) To achieve success, it is necessary to stand
for setbacks. Response categories ranged on a continuum scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5
(strongly agree). This scale calculated as the sum of scores of four items divided by four. A
higher score on the scale indicated that the respondents would have more obedience and tolerance
in a workplace. The Cronbach’s alpha was 0.66 with an Eigen value of 2.00 (see Table 2).
--Insert Table 2 about here--
Second, drawing from Hackman and Oldham’s (1975) argument, motivating potential
score (MPS) consisted of five dimensions to capture each respondent’s work environment: skill
variety, task identify, task significance, autonomy, and feedback. A two-item designed to measure
respondent’s skill variety: (1) While performing my job I get the opportunity to work on many
interesting projects; (2) Job gives me the opportunity to use many new technologies. The scale of
task identify consisted of three items by asking respondents: (1) Job allows me the opportunity to
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complete the work I start; (2) Job is arranged so that I have a chance and the ability to talk with
customers/clients/and citizens; (3) Job is arranged so that I have an understanding of how it
relates to the business mission. Three items were designed to capture respondent’s perceived task
significance by asking: (1) Job is one that may affect a lot of other people by how the work is
performed; (2) Job has the ability to influence decisions that significantly affect the organization;
(3) Job influences day-to-day company success. The scale of autonomy consisted of three items:
(1) job lets me be left on my own to do my own work; (2) Job provides me the opportunity of
self-directed flexibility of work hours; (3) I am able to act independently of my supervisor in
performing my job functions. Finally, a three-item scale designed to capture feedback: (1) Job by
itself provides feedback on how well I am performing as I am working; (2) Job provides me with
the opportunity to both communicate with my supervisor and to receive recognition from them as
well; (3) I received feedback from my co-workers about my performance on the job.
Most important, Hackman and Oldham reacted a formula to reflect an employee’s overall
“motivating potential” by {(skill variety+ task identify +task significance) ÷ 3}× autonomy ×
feedback. As can be seen from the formula, an increase in any of the five dimensions will
increase the MPS, suggesting an employee has a high level of motivating potential to reach
his/her accomplishment in a workplace.
Finally, gender, age, educational attainment, marital status, shift, and rank were treated as
control variables in this study. Gender was coded as a dichotomous variable (0 = male and 1=
female) and age was measured by an ordinal variable ranging from 1 (20-30 years old) to 4 (51
years +) that was converted from a respondent’s reported year of birth. Educational attainment
was coded from 1 (high school degree), 2 (associate degree), 3 (bachelor degree), and 4 (master
and above). Marital status was coded as a dichotomous variable (0=single and 1=married). In
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terms of shift, 0 represented outdoor shift (e.g., patrolling) and 1 represented indoor job (e.g.,
documental officers). Rank was measured by an ordinal variable ranging from 1 (line personnel),
2 (sergeant) and 3 (captain).
Statistical Analysis
The study used the analytic moment structure (AMOS 18.0) modeling fitting program to
examine the hypotheses. AMOS provides full information maximum-likelihood (MI) estimates
and allows for the simultaneous testing of the effects of exogenous variables on endogenous
variables in the specified structural equation model. This method is preferred over multiple
regressions for two primary reasons. First, many statistical indices of the overall fit of the model
to the data are not generated by regression programs. Second, several noteworthy and
informative results are simultaneously calculated by AMOS, including direct, indirect, and total
effects (Schumacker & Lomax, 2004).
A variety of absolute and relative (or incremental) fit indices were consulted to assess
model fit. Absolute fit index includes the χ2 statistics. χ
2 is the likelihood ratio test statistic used
to assess whether a given model provides an acceptable fit to the observed data. A model is
considered a good model fit when the χ2 test fails to reject the null hypothesis of perfect fit in the
population at the .05 level (Bollen & Long, 1993; Kline, 2005). Therefore, the researcher is
interesting in obtaining a non-significant χ2 value with associated degree of freedom. “Although
the χ2
test provides valuable information about a statistically false model, it is sensitive to sample
size. Generally, one should not only rely solely on it when assessing the fit of a model, especially,
when sample size is large (generally above 200)” (Xu, Fiedler, & Flaming, 2005: 180). Hence,
Jöreskog and Sörbom (1989) suggest the use of the ratio of χ2
to degree of freedom (CMIN/DF)
as a better of fit. A model fit is acceptable when ratio of CMIN/DF is less than 3 (Gibson, Zhao,
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Lovrich, & Gaffney, 2002; Kline, 2005). “Researchers have addressed the χ2
limitations by
developing goodness-of-fit indices that takes a more pragmatic approach to the evaluation
process” (Byrne, 2010: 77). Relative fit indices include the comparative fit index (CFI), good-of-
fit index (GFI), adjust goodness-of-fit index (AGFI), and root mean square error of
approximation (RMSEA) (Bentler, 1990; Gibson et al., 2002; Xu et al., 2005). Models were
more likely to be rejected when the value of CFI, GFI, or AGFI was less than 0.90 or the value of
RMSEA was greater than 0.05 (Byrne, 2010; Schumacker & Lomax, 2004; Xu et al., 2005).
FINDINGS
Descriptive Statistics
Descriptive statistics of all variables were reported in Table 3. The mean of dependent
variable, the index of job satisfaction was 3.59 with a standard deviation of 0.81, suggesting that
respondents generally held favorable attitudes toward job satisfaction. In terms of exploratory
variables, the mean of golden mean (Zhong Yong) was 2.59 with a substantial standard deviation
of 1.79. At the same time, while the mean of Chinese obedience was 3.39 with a standard
deviation of 0.66, the mean of Chinese endurance and tolerance was 3.80 with a standard
deviation of 0.74, suggesting Chinese work values were very popular among police officers. The
mean of motivating potential score (MPS) was 34.44 with a standard deviation of 16.78. With
respect to control variables, approximately 90 percent of respondents claimed that they were male
officers, and the mean of age was 2.06 at the range of 31 to 40 years old. In addition, the average
of educational attainment among respondents was an associated degree (2.02) and approximately
65 percent of respondents were married. About 75 percent of respondents reported that they were
assigned as an outdoor shift, whereas more than 67 percent of respondents reported that they were
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line personnel.
--Insert Table 3 about here--
Path Analyses
In this section, a series of path analysis which is the logical extension of multiple
regression models were used to examine the relationship between exogenous variables and
endogenous variables, of course, including job satisfaction simultaneously. Among ten
exploratory variables, gender (sex), age, education, marital status (married), shift, rank, Zhong
Yong, and MPS were directly observed variables presented as rectangles. At the same time,
Chinese obedience and tolerance (Chinese obedience) and Chinese endurance were latent
variables consisting of four items presented as ellipses. In line with literature, this study
hypothesized that all exploratory variables have significant impact on dependent variable, job
satisfaction. In addition, four demographic variables derived from control variables such as
gender, age, education, and marital status were hypothesized that they have significant impact on
Chinese work values: Chinese obedience and tolerance, Chinese endurance, and Zhong Yong. In
the meantime, researchers also hypothesized that individual’s shift, rank, and Chinese work
values also have direct influence on motivating potential score (MPS). Accordingly, the
conceptual model of path analysis in this study was presented as Figure 1.
--Insert Figure 1 about here--
The structural equation model shown in Figure 1 did run with 879 respondents and
selected AMOS outputs of goodness-of-fit statistics were presented in Table 4. The overall χ2
value, with 118 degrees of freedom, was 289. 05. The ratio of χ2
to degree of freedom was 2.45,
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which was below the commonly used value of 3 (Kline, 2005; Gibson et al., 2002). Given the
fact that χ2
statistic is sensitive to sample size and departures of normality in the data, it is
reasonable and appropriate to use alternative indicators to determine the fitness of the model
(Byrne, 2010; Schumacker & Lomax, 2004). Four other fit indices were reported in this study.
The estimated CFI and GFI for this path model were 0.968 and 0.947, respectively, indicating a
good fit to the data. RMSEA was base on the standardized residuals, and the values of 0.041,
which was well within the recommended range of acceptability (<0.05). Also, the AGFI for this
final model was 0.967, suggesting this model for all respondents really fit the data well.
--Insert Table 4 about here--
The model in Figure 2 appeared to capture a nexus in the data and suggested that Chinese
obedience and tolerance, Chinese endurance, golden mean (Zhong Yong), MPS, and marital
status (married) had direct linkages with job satisfaction. While being married (beta=0.15,
p<.001) and those who perceived high levels of Chinese obedience and tolerance (beta=0.38,
p<.001), Chinese endurance (beta=.0.13,p<.05) , and motivating potential score (MPS)
(beta=0.21, p<.001) had a significantly direct and positive impact on job satisfaction, those who
took high levels of Zhong Yong personality (beta=-0.10, p<.01) reported lower levels of job
satisfaction (beta=-0.01, p<.001). It is important to note that lower levels of job satisfaction did
not mean that higher levels of job dissatisfaction, suggesting that those respondents consistently
held the middle of road on the continuum from job dissatisfaction to job satisfaction.
Unfortunately, except for marital status, all control variables failed to produce a significant
association with job satisfaction. This model explained 46% of the variances in public support on
use of tasers. Table 5 presented the estimates of all determinants on Chinese obedience and
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tolerance, Chinese endurance, Zhong Yong, MPS, and job satisfaction.
--Insert Figure2 about here--
--Insert Table 5 about here--
CONCLUSION
Previous research showed that demographic and environment contexts are significantly
related to police officers’ job satisfaction (Jayaratne, 1993; Johnson, 2012; Miller et al., 2009;
Zhao et al., 1999). However, the findings are not consistent across studies. At the same time,
human values as an important predictor has been largely overlooked. The purpose of this study
was to examine the impact of Chinese cultural values on job satisfaction among Taiwanese police
officers while controlling for demographics and job characteristics. Using data of 879 sworn
police officers collected from three metropolitan areas in Taiwan, some unique findings are
highlighted as the followings.
First, among the demographics, only married officers reported higher levels of job
satisfaction whereas the age, gender, education failed to reach statistical significance. It seems
reasonable to assume that those married officers may have solid financial savings and familial
obligations. Specifically, they are covered by a national retirement system that is better matched
than the counterparts in the private sector. Hence, it is a logical sense that those married officers
would be satisfied with their jobs.
Second, the results also indicated that the motivating potential scale (MPS) which was
developed by Hackman and Oldham (1975) was a significant predictor of job satisfaction,
suggesting that perceptions of meaningful work environment really matters (Zhao et al., 1999).
20
The more varieties of job skills, variation in completion of entire tasks, autonomy , and feedback
that police officers reported, the higher their levels of job satisfaction (Miller et al., 2009). Our
findings also supported some previous studies. For example, Peakcock (2004) found that officers
who view their jobs as important (e.g., making a positive impact) also reported higher perceptions
of job satisfaction. Moreover, Miller et al. (2009) found that feedback and autonomy are the most
important predictors of job satisfaction (see also, Zhao et al., 1999). Overall, our study confirmed
that work environment is an essential feature of police officers’ job satisfaction (Johnson, 2012;
Wycoff & Skogan, 1993).
Finally and most importantly, the results of SEM analyses revealed that Chinese cultural
values are significantly correlated with job satisfaction after controlling for demographic and job
meaningfulness. Interestingly, Zhong Yong was found to have a negative and direct impact on
job satisfaction. Herzberg (1968) stated that job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction are two
different dimensions while measuring the concept of job attitudes among employees. While
motivation factors contributing to job satisfaction, the hygiene factors lead to perceptions’ job
dissatisfaction. The finding in this study revealed that those officers who internalized “Zhong
Yong” doctrine are more likely to hide their truth feelings. Also, those who have higher levels of
Zhao Yong traditional values would like to report a coordinated and balanced relationship
between their feelings and the work environment. As expected, they really harbor a negative
attitude toward the job satisfaction in their workplace.
In the meantime, Chinese obedience, tolerance, and endurance had significant and
positive effect on job satisfaction. Traditionally, Chinese people were predominately influenced
by Confucian values while they were in childhood age. Specifically, many Chinese are told that a
civilized person would consider group harmony and collective interests instead of individualism
21
even though he or she should scarify him/herself if necessary (Berthrong & Berthrong, 2000; Yao,
2000). As a result, obedience & tolerance and endurance are significant features of Confucian
values. In this study, our findings showed that those officers who perceived a higher level of
obedience, tolerance, and endurance values are more likely to report a high level of job
satisfaction. The empirical evidence also indicated that most Taiwanese police officers would like
to scarify their time and life to commit police career. Hence, the more levels of obedience,
tolerance, and endurance they report, the more enjoyable perceptions they address. We believe
that these are key factors leading to higher arrest rates, higher clearance rates, and lower crime
rates in Taiwan society during the past decades.
Overall, these findings emphasize the importance of demographics, organizational factors,
and Chinese cultural values (e.g., Zhong Yong) on job satisfaction among Taiwan’s police officers.
We investigated that job meaningfulness and Chinese traditional values played significant roles in
explanation of perceptions’ job satisfaction. We hope that other scholars and practitioners of
policing to join in the study of the relationship between Chinese cultures and job attitudes in law
enforcement agencies. Longitudinal, cross-sectional, and comparative studies (e.g., China vs.
Taiwan) are needed to increase the understanding of the extent to which the Chinese traditional
values impact job attitudes among officers in Chinese societies.
22
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26
Table 1 Detailed Distribution of Questionnaires
Counties
Sworn
Officers
Surveyed
Officers
Percent
Surveyed
Collected
Questionnaires
Percent
Collected
Taipei 7,095 550 7.75% 489 88.9%
Taichung 2,844 280 9.84% 244 87.1%
Kaohsiung 2,579 320 12.40% 292 91.2%
Total 12,518 1,150 9.18% 1,025 89.1%
27
Table 2 Results for factor analysis with Varimax rotation
Variables Factor loading
Job satisfaction:
1. I feel that my work is meaningful. .865
2. I like the kind of work I am working. .890
3 Generally speaking, I am satisfied with my job. .875
Eigen value= 2.31, % of variance= 76.89; Cronbach’s alpha=.85
Chinese Work Value (consists of two scales)
Endurance
1. I agree that endurance is the foundation to success. .850
2. I agree that long-term orientation leads to success. .798
3. I agree that hardworking conquers difficulty. .833
4. No pain, no gain is very true. .821
Eigen value= 2.73, % of variance= 68.17; Cronbach’s alpha=.84
Obedience and Tolerance
1. I agree that supervisors should adopt authoritarianism. .510
2. Subordinates should give their loyalty and obedience to their supervisors. .690
3. I agree that public interests are more important than personal ones. .770
4. To achieve success, it is necessary to stand for setbacks. .678
Eigen value=2.00, % of variance= 50.17; Cronbach’s alpha=.66
28
Table 3 Descriptive statistics (N = 879)
Variables Mean S.D. Min Max
Dependent variable
Job satisfaction (JS) 3.59 0.81 1.00 5.00
Exploratory Variables
Golden mean (Zhong Yong) 2.59 1.79 0.00 7.00
Chinese Obedience 3.39 0.66 1.00 5.00
Chinese Endurance 3.80 0.74 1.00 5.00
MPS 34.44 16.78 1.67 125.00
Gender (1=Female)
M= 790 (89.6)
F= 91(10.4)
0.10
0.30 0.00 1.00
Age
20-30=250 (28.4)
31-40=349 (39.7)
41-50=253 (28.8)
51 + =27 (3.1)
2.06 0.83 1.00 4.00
Educational attainment
High school degree =195(22.2)
Associate degree=484(55.1)
Bachelor degree=188(21.4)
Master and above=12(1.4)
2.02
0.70 1.00 4.00
Marital status (1=Married)
Single: 308 (35.0)
0.63 0.48 0.00 1.00
29
Married: 571 (65.0)
Shift (1=outdoor)
Outdoor: 655 (74.5)
Indoor:224(25.5)
0.26 0.44 0.00 1.00
Rank
Officer:594 (67.6)
Sergeant: 151 (17.2)
Captain:134 (15.2)
1.48 0.74 1.00 3.00
30
Figure 1 A hypothesized path model
31
Figure 2 A final path model
32
Table 4 Selected outputs of AMOS for path model of job satisfaction
(Goodness-of-fit statistics)
χ2 df χ
2/df CFI AGFI GFI RMSEA
Default model 289.05 118 2.45 .968 .967 .947 .041
Saturated model .000 0 0 1.000 0 1.000
Independence model 5460.61 171 31.93 .000 .402 .462 .188
33
.17 .10 .13 -.10
-.09 .38
.09
.15 .52 .21
Figure 3 A path model of police job satisfaction
Note. This study allowed the same exogenous variables to correlate, but for the purpose of graphical clarity, did not
show the phi coefficients in the model. Only significant variables with standardized coefficients were presented
(p<.05).
Job
Satisfaction
Chinese
Obedience
Age
Sex (female)
Education
Golden Mean
(ZhongYong)
Chinese
Endurance
MPS
Married
34
Table 5 SEM estimates for determinants on police job satisfaction(N=879)
Estimate S.E. C. R.
Regression weights (unstandardized)
Golden Mean Age -.065 .098 -.661
Sex(female) -.499 .198 -2.518*
Education -.065 .091 -.708
Married -.114 .170 -.673
Obedience Age .139 .044 3.187**
Sex(female) .061 .088 .695
Education .090 .041 2.211*
Married .072 .075 .953
Endurance Age .090 .044 2.067*
Sex(female) .108 .088 1.219
Education .043 .041 1.057
Married -.114 .170 -.673
MPS Shift -.264 1.243 -.212
Rank .604 .749 .806
Obedience 12.976 1.821 7.124***
Endurance -.571 1.401 -.408
Golden mean -.137 .301 -.454
Job satisfaction Age .008 .036 .213
35
Sex (female) -.116 .073 -1.591
Education -.020 .034 -.592
Married .227 .062 3.637***
Golden Mean -.040 .013 -3.164**
Obedience .417 .085 4.933***
Endurance .124 .059 2.119*
MPS .009 .002 5.480***
Squared multiple correlations (R2)
Golden mean .011
Obedience .041
Endurance .015
MPS .261
Job satisfaction .459
Note. * p<.05, ** p<.01, ***p<.001.