Worldwide, it is not uncommon to observe violent police reactions against social movements. These are often rationalized by decision makers as efficient ways to contain violence from protesters. In France for instance, the ongoing Yellow Vests protests have generated an unprecedented number of casualties, injuries, and convictions among protesters. But was this response efficient in diminishing violence stemming from the Yellow Vests? To this day, little is known about the psychological consequences of police violence in the context of protests. Combining insights from Significance Quest Theory and the Social Identity perspective on collective action, we predicted that exposure to police violence could “backfire” and lead to increased radicalization of protesters. A cross-sectional investigation of 523 Yellow Vests yielded evidence for this hypothesis. We found positive direct effects of exposure to police violence on intentions to attend future demonstrations and to self-sacrifice for the Yellow Vests. Moreover, these effects were serially mediated by perceived Loss of Significance and Identification with the Yellow Vests. Paradoxically, these results highlight for the first time the mechanism through which political repression may contribute to the formation of radical politicized identities. Thus, we recommend that decision makers privilege the use of de-escalation techniques in protest policing whenever possible.

中文翻译：

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“被压抑者的回归”：警察暴力的暴露增加了对黄色背心的抗议和自我牺牲的意图

在世界范围内，观察到警察对社会运动的暴力反应并不少见。这些通常被决策者合理化为遏制抗议者暴力的有效方式。例如，在法国，正在进行的黄色背心抗议活动在抗议者中造成了前所未有的伤亡和定罪。但这种反应是否有效地减少了黄色背心带来的暴力？直到今天，人们对抗议活动中警察暴力的心理后果知之甚少。结合重要性探索理论和社会认同观点对集体行动的见解，我们预测暴露于警察暴力可能会“适得其反”并导致抗议者激进化。对 523 件黄色背心的横断面调查为这一假设提供了证据。我们发现暴露于警察暴力对参加未来示威和为黄背心自我牺牲的意图有积极的直接影响。此外，这些影响是由感知到的意义丧失和与黄色背心认同的连续介导的。矛盾的是，这些结果首次突出了政治镇压可能有助于形成激进政治化身份的机制。因此，我们建议决策者尽可能在抗议警务中优先使用降级技术。这些影响是由感知到的意义丧失和与黄色背心的认同感连续介导的。矛盾的是，这些结果首次突出了政治镇压可能有助于形成激进政治化身份的机制。因此，我们建议决策者尽可能在抗议警务中优先使用降级技术。这些影响是由感知到的意义丧失和与黄色背心的认同感连续介导的。矛盾的是，这些结果首次突出了政治镇压可能有助于形成激进政治化身份的机制。因此，我们建议决策者尽可能在抗议警务中优先使用降级技术。