A Motivational Model of Daily Hassles,Physical Symptoms,and Future Work Intentions Among Police Officers1

This study tested a motivational model of daily hassles, physical symptoms, and future work intentions with a sample of 122 police officers. In agreement with self‐determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2002), path analyses showed that police officers who perceived their immediate supervisor as highly supportive of their autonomy were found to report higher levels of self‐determined motivation toward work. In turn, higher levels of self‐determined motivation were found to be associated with higher future work intentions and lower levels of reported daily hassles. Finally, daily hassles were found to be positively associated with reported physical symptoms. Contrary to our hypotheses, perception of competence support from supervisors was not found to be significantly associated with self‐determined motivation. Instead, competence support was found to be negatively associated with daily hassles.