Researchers have linked police officers' concerns with appearing racist-a kind of stereotype threat-to racial disparities in the use of force. This study presents the first empirical test of the hypothesized psychological mechanism linking stereotype threat to police support for violence. We hypothesized that stereotype threat undermines officers' self-legitimacy, or the confidence they have in their inherent authority, encouraging overreliance on coercive policing to maintain control. Officers (n = 784) from the patrol division of a large urban police force completed a survey in order to test this hypothesis. Respondents completed measures of stereotype threat, self-legitimacy, resistance to use of force policy, approval of unreasonable force, and endorsement of procedurally fair policing. Structural equation models showed that elevated stereotype threat was associated with lower self-legitimacy (β = -.15), which in turn was associated with more resistance to restrictions on force (β = -.17), greater approval of unreasonable force (β = -.31), and lower endorsement of fair policing (β = .57). These results reveal that concerns about appearing racist are actually associated with increased support for coercive policing-potentially further eroding public trust. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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恐惧的力量：警察刻板印象的威胁，自我合法性和对过度武力的支持。

研究人员将警官的担忧与种族主义（一种陈规定型的威胁）与使用武力方面的种族差异联系起来。这项研究提出了关于将刻板印象威胁与警察对暴力的支持联系起来的假设心理机制的第一个实证检验。我们假设刻板印象威胁破坏了官员的自我合法性，或破坏了他们对固有权力的信心，从而鼓励过分依赖强制性治安来维持控制。一支大型​​城市警察巡逻队的警官（n = 784）完成了一项调查，以检验这一假设。受访者完成了刻板印象的威胁，自我合法性，对使用武力政策的抵制，对不合理武力的认可以及对程序公正警力的认可。结构方程模型显示，刻板印象的威胁与较低的自我合法性相关（β= -.15），这又与对强制力施加的抵抗力增强（β= -.17），对不合理的强制力的认可程度更大（β = -.31），并降低对公平警务的支持（β= .57）。这些结果表明，对出现种族主义的担忧实际上与对强制性治安的支持增加有关，这有可能进一步削弱公众信任。（PsycINFO数据库记录（c）2019 APA，保留所有权利）。这些结果表明，对出现种族主义的担忧实际上与对强制性治安的支持增加有关，这有可能进一步削弱公众信任。（PsycINFO数据库记录（c）2019 APA，保留所有权利）。这些结果表明，对出现种族主义的担忧实际上与对强制性治安的支持增加有关，这有可能进一步削弱公众信任。（PsycINFO数据库记录（c）2019 APA，保留所有权利）。