LAUSR

Abstract Counter terrorism intervention units (CTIUs) in the police or in military forces are typically deployed for assignments such as combating terrorist operations, making high-risk arrests, and managing hostage situations. However, only few studies have examined the personality traits characterising the police officers who work in these challenging situations. The present study aims to investigate possible differences in the personality profiles between Swedish CTIU police officers (n = 57) and the general Swedish population using the five-factor model of personality. At the factor level, the findings revealed that CTIU police officers had low neuroticism (Cohen's d = 0.7), high extraversion (Cohen's d = 0.7), and high conscientiousness (Cohen's d = 0.4). At the facet level, CTIU police officers exhibited low levels of vulnerability (Cohen's d = 0.8), angry hostility (Cohen's d = 0.7), anxiety (Cohen's d = 0.6) and high levels of excitement-seeking (Cohen's d = 0.9), positive emotions (Cohen's d = 0.6) and activity (Cohen's d = 0.6) in comparison with the general population. The study findings reveal the existence of specific personality differences between Swedish CTIU police officers and the general population.