https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854818796873 CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, 201X, Vol. XX, No. X, Month 2018, 1–15. DOI: 10.1177/0093854818796873 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions © 2018 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology 1 ENHANCING MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION OF POLICE OFFICERS A Test of High Performance Cycle Theory ISMAIL C. DEMIRKOL MAHESH K. NALLA Michigan State University Although goal-setting theory is one of the most examined motivation theories, few studies examine a theoretical framework of the high performance cycle (HPC) offered by Locke and Latham. Thus, the aim of this article is to examine the causes of job motivation and satisfaction within the framework of HPC. The data were gathered from 1,970 police officers working in various police departments in Turkey. Overall, the results of the study were consistent with the tenets of HPC. Results suggest that specific goals, self-efficacy, and feedback increase police officers’ job motivation, which leads to rewards and subse- quently, job satisfaction among police officers. The results also suggest that job motivation has direct and indirect effects on job satisfaction. The practical implications of this study are to show that HPC is an effective and applicable framework to increase police officers’ job motivation and satisfaction. Keywords: high performance cycle; job satisfaction; motivation; goal commitment INTRODUCTION Work motivation (O’Reilly, 1991; Pinder, 1998; Steers, Mowday, & Shapiro, 2004) and job satisfaction (Rainey, 2014; Spector, 1997) are two of the most researched topics in the field of organizational studies. Work motivation is described as “a person’s desire to work hard and work well to the arousal, direction, and persistence of effort in work settings” (Rainey, 2014, p. 263). One of the major goals of public administration research is the focus on how to motivate public employees and enable them “to work energetically and intelli- gently towards achieving public purposes” (Behn, 1995, p. 315). The existing research on policing indicates that motivation is related to positive outcomes among police officers. For example, it was found that higher levels of motivation were related to the intention to stay in the police force and lower levels of reported daily hassles (Otis & Pelletier, 2005). In another study, higher levels of self-determined motivation were related to vigor (high levels AUTHORS’ NOTE: Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Ismail C. Demirkol, Kazim Karabekir Mah. 15-1 Tercan Erzincan, Turkey; e-mail: icdemirkol99@yahoo.com. 796873CJB XX X 10.1177/0093854818796873Criminal Justice and BehaviorDemirkol, Nalla research-article 2018