THE CONCEPT OF IDEALIZATION OF ROLE IS MEASURED BY CONTRASTING THE PROSPECTIVE PATROLMAN'S EVALUATION OF VARIOUS JOB CHARACTERISTICS SUCH AS PAY AND WORKING HOURS, TO THE EVALUATION OF THESE FEATURES MADE BY INCUMBENT PATROLMEN. COMPARISON OF INCUMBENT AND PROSPECTIVE PATROLMEN IS ALSO USED TO EVALUATE THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE RECRUIT ANTICIPATES A PROFESSIONAL RESPONSE TO ROLE CONFLICT SITUATIONS. A CYNICISM SCALE IS ALSO USED TO MEASURE JOB-ROLE IDEALIZATION ON THE PART OF THE PROSPECTIVE PATROLMAN. ROLE CONFLICT IS ANALYZED WITHIN THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF THE CONCEPT OF PRIMARINESS. INCUMBENT AND PROSPECTIVE PATROLMENS' RESPONSES TO HYPOTHETICAL CONFLICT SITUATIONS ARE ANALYZED TO EXAMINE THE IMPACT OF THE PRIMARINESS OF THE GROUPS INVOLVED IN THE CONFLICT HAVE ON RESPONSE PATTERNS TO SUCH CONFLICT. DATA WERE GATHERED FROM QUESTIONNAIRES ADMINISTERED TO 388 MEN - 243 PROSPECTIVE PATROLMEN AND 145 INCUMBENT PATROLMEN. CHI SQUARE ANALYSES OF RESPONSES WERE MADE. THE BASIC CONCLUSIONS REACHED BY THE STUDY ARE: 1) A MAJOR DETERMINANT IN THE AMOUNT OF CONCERN GENERATED BY ROLE CONFLICT, AND THE RESPONSE PATTERNS SELECTED IN ROLE CONFLICT, IS THE PRIMARINESS OF THE GROUPS INVOLVED IN THE CONFLICT. 2) THE WOULD-BE PATROLMAN ACCURATELY PERCEIVES THE IMPACT OF PRIMARY GROUPS ON JOB BEHAVIOR WHILE IN HIS PROSPECTIVE STATUS; 3) OTHER THAN A TENDENCY TO RATE SOME OF THE JOB FEATURES OF POLICE WORK MORE FAVORABLY THAN THE INCUMBENT DOES, THE PROSPECTIVE PATROLMAN HAS NOT UNREALISTICALLY IDEALIZED THE ROLE HE IS ABOUT TO UNDERTAKE; AND 4) VARIOUS TYPES OF INFORMAL MODES OF SOCIALIZATION, SUCH AS SOCIAL CONTACT WITH POLICEMEN, DO NOT PLAY A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN DETERMINING ATTITUDES HELD BY PROSPECTIVE PATROLMEN. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)