Punishment Orientation (utilitarian - penal) shall be directed to traffic officers

Abstract

Previous studies have examined the application of punishments; however, the reasons that drive individuals to punish others have not received sufficient attention. This study aims to explore individuals’ tendencies in directing punishments, distinguishing between two orientations: retributive and utilitarian, and their impact on reducing undesirable behaviors in society. Traffic police officers were chosen as the study sample since they have the authority to impose punishments fairly.

The research aimed to identify:

The orientation of punishment (retributive and utilitarian) among traffic police officers.

Individual differences in punishment orientation according to rank (officer, commissioner), educational level (secondary, high school, bachelor’s and above), and years of service (1–10, 11–20, 21 and above).

The researcher adopted Yamamoto’s (2014) Punishment Orientation Scale, based on Weiner’s (2006) attribution theory of motivation and emotion. The final version contained 20 items classified into retributive and utilitarian orientations, with five response options (strongly agree – agree – neutral – disagree – strongly disagree). The sample consisted of 300 traffic officers from Wasit Province (91 officers and 209 commissioners). Reliability coefficients by test–retest were 0.82 (utilitarian) and 0.79 (retributive), while Cronbach’s alpha reached 0.70 (utilitarian) and 0.68 (retributive).

The findings revealed that:

The sample showed high levels of both retributive and utilitarian orientations.

The dominant orientation was retributive compared to utilitarian.

A significant difference was found in retributive orientation according to rank, favoring officers, while no significant differences appeared regarding years of service. A significant difference was also found in retributive orientation according to educational leve