Orientation: Researching the impact of psychological constructs on police leadership may add value when appointing people in leadership positions or developing people for leadership roles in the police environment.Research purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between three constructs, namely emotional intelligence, self-efficacy and leadership effectiveness in a policing context.Motivation for this study: In the police sector, there are difficulties in linking leadership to organisational outcomes since common police-leadership measures are affected by multiple contributory factors. This study explores the psychological constructs of emotional intelligence and self-efficacy on the leadership effectiveness of the police.Research design, approach and method: This research adopted a quantitative approach to assess the relationship between emotional intelligence and self-efficacy as attributes of leadership effectiveness. A total of 107 police personnel in commanding positions made up the sample. The measuring instruments used were the Assessing Emotions Scale, the Self-efficacy Scale and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ Form 5X).Main findings: The results confirmed a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and self-efficacy and leadership effectiveness. The correlations were significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).Practical/managerial implications: Emotional intelligence and self-efficacy should be considered as attributes during the selection of leaders in police organisations or used for developmental purposes to enhance these attributes in police leaders.Contribution/value-add: The insights gained from the findings may be used to guide the selection of future leaders in the policing environment, and they could also be used to establish future developmental programmes and research initiatives.
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