Stress and the interpretation of ambiguous faces in police officers

Résumé 0

Fast and accurate decision-making are central in police officers’ duties. The processing of information relevant to inform decisions can be biased by the state of mind of officers, notably in the presence of stressful conditions. We sought to examine the link between different sources of stress and the presence of an interpretation bias in a task presenting ambiguous faces. A sample of 234 Canadian police officers took part in an online study measuring the number of stressful life events and the level of occupational stress. Participants were assigned to a stress-induced group or a control group. The stress induction was a challenging arithmetic task and the control task was a non-challenging arithmetic task. Participants indicated if the facial expression of 60 ambiguous faces was ‘negative’ or ‘positive’. The dependent measure was the mean number of positive interpretations. Perceived stress level, measured on a visual analogue scale, collected throughout the task indicated that the induction was successful. We found no difference in interpretations resulting from the stress induction. We did however find a significant negative correlation between the perceived stress measures and the interpretation of the faces; higher levels of perceived stress were associated with less positive interpretations. The number of stressful life events and occupational stress level were not associated with face interpretation. Paperwork and fatigue were reported as the most stressful aspects of the job by the officers, consistent with what has been found in studies conducted with police services worldwide. This study also highlights the relevance of perceived stress in police officers.