Viewing Police Officer-Civilian Interactions As Anxiety Provoking
Date
2022-05
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
More and more, exposure to third-person perspective video recordings of
violent police officer-civilian encounters has become common. These interactions
have the potential to be anxiety-provoking for the individuals viewing them, which
could lead to significant effects on both physical and mental health later on. We
investigate the extent to which perceivers’ evaluations of police officer-civilian
interactions is influenced by stress levels of the perceiver as well as civilian race and
perceiver race. Participants (n = 376 White, 392 Black) viewed videos varying in
overall aggression of a White police officer arresting either Black or White civilians.
Then they rated both the police officer and civilian on aggression level, guilt, and use
of force legitimacy. Results found that stress responses generally showed differences
in evaluations, as well as differences based on racial group membership regardless of
stress level.
Description
Keywords
Police, Civilian, Video recordings, Anxiety