TOLERANCE TO UNCERTAINTY AS A DETERMINING CONDITION FOR DECISION-MAKING BY POLICE OFFICERS WHEN PERFORMING PROFESSIONAL TASKS

Abstract

The article provides a theoretical review of the results of psychological research by domestic and foreign scientists, which reveals the main characteristics of tolerance to uncertainty and highlights the specifics of decision-making by police officers in conditions of uncertainty. The purpose of the article was to study the phenomenon of «uncertainty tolerance» as a condition for decision-making by police officers when performing professional tasks. Based on the analysis of the decision-making problem in a situation of uncertainty, the definition of uncertainty tolerance was formulated. It was found that tolerance to uncertainty is a multi-level and multi-dimensional personal construct that can be attributed to the integral characteristics of a person. In addition, four approaches are followed in the studies of Ukrainian scientists on the problem of tolerance to uncertainty: tolerance to uncertainty as a personality trait; tolerance to uncertainty as a situation-specific guideline; uncertainty tolerance as a cognitive process and skill. It has been confirmed that the activity of a police officer is characterized by an extreme, non-standard nature and a high degree of uncertainty, and is most difficult in situations where the guiding principles of decision-making are ambiguous. It is emphasized that the decision-making process is a complex system that combines cognitive processes (thinking, memory, forecasting, perception and imagination) and can be used for a full assessment of the factors of the professional situation and the full implementation of strategy search activities. Psychological decision-making mechanisms depend on the informativeness and degree of certainty of the professional situation. The analysis of the works of scientists allowed to determine the general interpretation of tolerance to uncertainty as a stable personal characteristic that allows describing and predicting the behavior of a person in a situation of uncertainty, and the corresponding provisions of the cognitive, emotional, motivational and regulatory spheres of the personality. A police officer who is tolerant of uncertainty has been shown to be able to work with a wider range of stimuli and situations. Given the fact that decision-making is a cognitive process, the result of which is the choice of an opinion or a course of action among several alternative perspectives, precisely tolerance to uncertainty is one of the important psychological factors for ensuring the reliability, efficiency and success of the professional activity of the law enforcement officer.