The development of police legitimacy evaluations is a core component of the legal socialization process. Research has identified many factors that impact peoples’ perceptions of legitimacy such as social and ethnic identity, but the role of American identity has yet to be examined. This study attempted to gain a deeper understanding of the factors that impact legal socialization by examining the relationship between American identity and police legitimacy evaluations. Using a sample of 2086 adults from the United States, we found that people with a stronger American identity were more likely to believe the police are a legitimate authority after accounting for other known predictors of legitimacy. The results demonstrate that national identity may be play a key role in the legal socialization process and partially shape peoples’ evaluations of police legitimacy regardless of the content and quality of interactions they have with the police.

中文翻译：

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将警察视为非法是非美国人吗？国家认同在法律社会化过程中的作用

警察合法性评估的发展是法律社会化进程的核心组成部分。研究已经确定了许多影响人们对合法性看法的因素，例如社会和种族身份，但美国身份的作用还有待研究。本研究试图通过考察美国身份与警察合法性评估之间的关系，更深入地了解影响法律社会化的因素。我们使用来自美国的 2086 名成年人的样本，发现在考虑了其他已知的合法性预测因素后，具有更强美国身份的人更有可能相信警察是合法权威。