Gender Variations of Physiological and Psychological Strain Amongst Police Officers

This paper analyses the gender effect on reported—perceived levels of stress through examination of physical and psychological
indicators. It is interesting to work with police data due to high stress levels and the male dominated work environment.
This paper explores both gender differences in (perceived) stress levels as well as the underlying gender-specific sensitivity
to environmental factors, such as unit cooperation, trust in the work partner, higher levels of work-life-balance and home
stability, and interactional fairness. Using multivariate regression analysis we find that female officers are significantly
more likely to report physical strains than males, while no gender differences are observable in regards to psychological
strains. Moreover, higher levels of trust and interactional fairness at work are not able to absorb physical strain among
females, but have a strong impact on males. Alternatively for both female and male officers, work-life balance and stability
at home appear to reduce physical strain.