Explaining job satisfaction and voluntary assistance among Nigerian police officers

Purpose This study aims to assess the direct relationships between internal support and job satisfaction and voluntary assistance and their indirect connections through work–family conflict among Nigerian police officers. Design/methodology/approach Survey data were collected from police officers in a midsized state police command in Ebonyi state in Nigeria. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to assess the connections between supervisor support, peer support, work–family conflict, job satisfaction and voluntary assistance. Findings Police officers with stronger supervisor and co-worker support are more inclined to express higher job satisfaction, whereas such support is not linked to officers' willingness to help fellow officers. Work–family conflict mediates the relationship between co-worker support and voluntary assistance. Stronger peer support is accompanied by higher work–family conflict, which then is linked to greater helping behavior. Originality/value Despite many studies on police job satisfaction, research on correlates of job satisfaction in an African context remains severely under-investigated. This study represents one of the first attempts to assess police proactive helping behavior and job satisfaction in Nigeria.