Aggressive symptom complex (aggression, aggressiveness, and aggressive behavior) in professional activity of the police officers
The subject of this research is the aggressive symptom complex of police officers, which implies a totality of indicators that characterize psycho-emotional state of a person (state of aggression), key characterological traits of personality (aggressiveness as an integral quality of personality), and behavioral patterns (a habit to use elements of aggressive behavior in a particular situation). The object of this research is the level of legitimate use of aggression in professional activities of the police officers. The goal lies in determination of factors that contribute to facilitation and inhibition of the legitimate level of aggression in professional activities of the police officers. Special attention is given to interpretation of aggression as an individual basis, aggressiveness as a personal basis, and aggressive behavior as a subject-activity basis within the structure of human psyche. The individual manifestations of aggressive symptom complex is viewed on the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral levels. The empirical part of the article analyzes the interrelation between the behavioral strategy chosen in a conflict situation, level of communicative aggression, and level of communicative tolerance of the police officers, taking into account gender and age factors. It is established that 85% of the police employees (regardless of gender and age) consciously choose peaceful and nonaggressive strategies to settle the conflict situation, and only 15% prefer aggressive strategy of rivalry. However, the attempt to “restrain oneself” leads to accumulation of psychoemotional tension, which provokes the experience of pleasure from bursts of spontaneous and reflected aggression, and subsequently sense of guilt and a proclivity for auto-aggression. The likelihood of manifestation or non-manifestation of the aggressive symptom complex is substantiated by facilitators / inhibitors of aggression. It was also determined the propensity to establish oneself as a reference model and the rejection of the individuality of another party is first and foremost associated with the specificity of communication cohort of the police officers, and can be considered as an option of psychological defense against premature psychoemotional burnout.