Enhancing Motivation and Job Satisfaction of Police Officers: A Test of High Performance Cycle Theory

Abstract

Although goal-setting theory is one of the most examined motivation theories, few studies examine a theoretical framework of the high performance cycle (HPC) offered by Locke and Latham. Thus, the aim of this article is to examine the causes of job motivation and satisfaction within the framework of HPC. The data were gathered from 1,970 police officers working in various police departments in Turkey. Overall, the results of the study were consistent with the tenets of HPC. Results suggest that specific goals, self-efficacy, and feedback increase police officers’ job motivation, which leads to rewards and subsequently, job satisfaction among police officers. The results also suggest that job motivation has direct and indirect effects on job satisfaction. The practical implications of this study are to show that HPC is an effective and applicable framework to increase police officers’ job motivation and satisfaction.