Objectives

To assess how media images of protests calling for police reform affect public support for police reform policies.

Methods

Participants were randomly assigned to view a picture of a protest, which depicted predominately White protesters or predominately Black protesters. Participants then indicated their support for eight police reform policies. As a follow-up to the primary analyses, we conducted regression analyses to determine how assumptions of protest demographics influence support for reform.

Results

Exposure to images highlighting the racial demographics of a protest does not affect support for reform. However, support for police reform is influenced by preexisting opinions about protests calling for police reform, including the perceived racial composition of a protest.

Conclusions

Although the public is generally supportive of police reforms, support can be affected by situational factors; beliefs about the race of who is attending protests inform support for police reform.

中文翻译：

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警务抗议：抗议者种族对警察改革支持影响的实验性评估

目标

评估呼吁警察改革的抗议活动的媒体形象如何影响公众对警察改革政策的支持。

方法

参与者被随机分配观看抗议照片，该照片主要描绘了白人抗议者或黑人抗议者。与会者随后表示支持八项警察改革政策。作为初步分析的后续行动，我们进行了回归分析，以确定抗议人口统计假设如何影响对改革的支持。

结果

曝光突出抗议的种族人口统计数据的图像不会影响对改革的支持。然而，对警察改革的支持受到关于呼吁警察改革的抗议活动的先前观点的影响，包括对抗议活动的种族构成的感知。

结论

虽然公众普遍支持警察改革，但支持可能会受到情境因素的影响；关于参加抗议活动的种族的信念有助于支持警察改革。