MINDFULNESS AS A PSYCHOLOGICAL RESOURCE OF AXIOLOGICAL COMPETENCE IN POLICE OFFICERS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.34142/23129387.2026.75.13Keywords:
mindfulness, axiological competence, resilience, police officers, value-based self-regulation, acting with awareness, nonjudgingAbstract
Relevance of the study: Police officers’ professional activity involves a high level of responsibility, considerable emotional demands, and the need to make decisions in complex and uncertain situations. Under such conditions, axiological competence becomes particularly important, as it enables individuals to recognize, coordinate, and implement personal and professional values in their behavior. Mindfulness may serve as a promising psychological resource for supporting axiological competence due to its association with conscious attention to present-moment experience, reduced automaticity of responding, and more flexible self-regulation.
Aim of the study: To identify the relationships between mindfulness and axiological competence in police officers and to determine the predictive significance of individual mindfulness facets for the overall level of axiological competence.
Research methods: D. O. Dubinin’s Axiological Competence Questionnaire, the Resilience Scale for Adults – RSA by O. Friborg et al. in the Ukrainian adaptation by D. O. Dubinin, and the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire – FFMQ-15, developed on the basis of the model proposed by R. A. Baer et al. and adapted by Ya. Yu. Kaplunenko and V. V. Kuchyna. Spearman’s rank correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis were used for statistical data processing.
Results of the study: A system of positive statistically significant relationships was established between the components of axiological competence and resilience resources, supporting the professional and psychological relevance of axiological competence for police officers. Correlation analysis of mindfulness and axiological competence showed that 31 out of 36 possible relationships were statistically significant. The strongest association was found between the overall mindfulness score and the overall axiological competence score (rₛ = 0.73; p < 0.001). Among individual mindfulness facets, the overall level of axiological competence was most strongly associated with nonjudging of inner experience (rₛ = 0.60), describing (rₛ = 0.53), acting with awareness (rₛ = 0.45), and nonreactivity (rₛ = 0.40). The regression model explained 58.6% of the variance in the overall axiological competence score. Statistically significant predictors were nonjudging of inner experience (β = 0.359), describing (β = 0.298), acting with awareness (β = 0.238), and nonreactivity (β = 0.177), whereas observing did not demonstrate independent predictive significance.
Conclusions: The findings indicate a systematic relationship between mindfulness and axiological competence in police officers. The most relevant facets of mindfulness are those associated with a nonjudgmental attitude toward inner experience, its conscious processing, reduced automaticity of responding, and more deliberate behavioral regulation. The findings support the consideration of mindfulness as a promising psychological resource for axiological competence and suggest that its individual facets may be taken into account in psychological training and support programs for police officers.
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