Police Psych Exam Questions - the 5-point Scale
On more than one occasion, I have had students who looked, on paper, to be model citizens and ideal candidates for police work, who were shocked when they got dropped from consideration due to how they answered questions on the preliminary Psych exam. Once, I looked up the student’s Facebook page to see if I could offer any guidance. What I saw was a great young man who clearly had devoted his life to the teachings of his church. This was a clue.
Most police officer hiring will include a preliminary Psych exam that is scored on a computer. Many of these tests use a 5-point scale for you to select your answer. I receive many questions from confused students about how best to approach these questions.
Example: You are asked to describe how you feel about the following statement.
I believe criminals are sometimes not punished severely enough.
(A) Strongly Disagree
(B) Disagree
(C) Neutral
(D) Agree
(E) Strongly Agree
Many new applicants for law enforcement positions quickly jump to the conclusion that they should answer “Strongly Agree.” They assume that since the job they are applying for is to catch criminals and enforce laws, the recruiters will want to know that they have a strong conviction towards upholding the law.
This is a mistake.
Successfully answering the questions on police psych exam requires that you be able to distinguish between situations where opinions are acceptable versus cases where virtues are the guidepost. The question above is a topic with many opinions. The numerous debates in the news on this crime and punishment topic should be enough to tell you that there is no absolute right or wrong answer.
Virtues - Strongly Agree or Strongly Disagree
An excellent article describes virtues as “... attitudes, dispositions, or character traits that enable us to develop our potential. They enable us to pursue the ideals we have adopted. Honesty, courage, compassion, generosity, fidelity, integrity, fairness, self-control, and prudence are all examples of virtues.”
If a test question asked how you feel about this statement, “Being fair is good,” who wouldn’t choose “Strongly Agree?” On questions involving virtues, the Strongly Agree or Strongly Disagree choices are usually correct.
A good example where you would Strongly Disagree would be the statement, “It is sometimes OK to cheat on a test.” The virtue is honesty.
What are Religious Beliefs?
The Catholic Church defines seven virtues as: prudence, justice, temperance, courage (or fortitude), faith, hope, and charity. This sounds very much like the above definition of virtues, doesn’t it? But religious beliefs frequently go a step further by describing how we must act in support of these virtues. An example from Christianity would be, “Thou Shalt Not Kill.” In fact, almost all religions state that killing another person is a sin.
Now consider if you were asked to score the following statement on the five-point scale on a police psych exam.
Taking the life of another person is never acceptable.
(A) Strongly Disagree
(B) Disagree
(C) Neutral
(D) Agree
(E) Strongly Agree
If you adhered to a strong religious belief that compelled you to “Strongly Agree,” you wouldn’t get the job as a law enforcement officer in most agencies. Especially, nowadays, over zealousness or self-righteousness is an undesirable characteristic for a good officer. The correct answer is to Agree. This demonstrates that you are a moral person, but you also recognize that there could be exceptions.
When to Agree or Disagree
Those of you who have taken my test prep courses know that I recommend that you always express an opinion and don’t be neutral on any of these psychology/ethics questions. But many times, the correct answer will be to simply Agree or Disagree depending upon how you feel about the statement.
In life, most issues are not black and white. Even the commandment “Thou Shalt Not Kill” has nuances that must frequently be debated in court. To Agree with the statement “Thou Shalt Not Kill” will be acceptable to most recruiters, whereas to Strongly Agree may indicate that you are unwilling to carry and use a gun as a law enforcement professional.
Strategy for Passing the Police Psych Exam
Avoid taking extreme positions on most issues unless there is an underlying universal virtue at stake. This chart summarizes how to come to the correct answer on our example Psych Question about crime and punishment. You can learn much more on this topic in my prep course - Mastering the Psych Exam.
