ABSTRACT

How police and citizens behave during encounters can influence public perceptions of the deservingness of treatment citizens receive from police. Yet perceiving another citizen as deserving of police treatment may be explained by other factors. This study tests if minority observers’ identity with police and identity with the citizen in the encounter conditions how they judge that citizen’s deservingness of procedurally just or unjust treatment from police utilizing survey data with an embedded vignette experiment collected from 502 Muslim participants. The sample was split by the exhibited behavior of the police officer (as either procedurally just or unjust) to assess the effect of citizen behavior (either respectful or disrespectful) and identity processes on deservingness judgments. Findings show that the citizen in the encounter was perceived as less deserving of the treatment received when the police officer was procedurally unjust, particularly when the citizen acted respectfully. Additionally, identity with police shaped participants’ deservingness judgments, while identification with the citizen in the encounter did not. Importantly, identification with police moderated the relationship between citizen behavior and deservingness evaluations, but only for participants in the procedurally unjust police behavior condition. Implications for understanding minorities’ deservingness judgments in vicarious police-citizen encounters are discussed.

摘要

警察和公民在相遇时的行为方式会影响公众对公民从警察那里得到的待遇是否值得的看法。然而，认为另一个公民值得警察对待可能是由其他因素来解释的。本研究利用从 502 名穆斯林参与者收集的调查数据和嵌入的小插曲实验，测试少数族裔观察者在遭遇中对警察的认同以及对公民的认同是否会影响他们如何判断公民应获得警察的程序公正或不公正待遇。样本根据警察表现出的行为（程序公正或不公正）进行划分，以评估公民行为（尊重或不尊重）和身份过程对应得判断的影响。调查结果显示，当警察在程序上不公正时，特别是当公民表现得尊重时，遭遇事件的公民会被认为不值得受到对待。此外，对警察的认同影响了参与者的应得判断，而对遭遇中的公民的认同则不然。重要的是，对警察的认同调节了公民行为和应得性评估之间的关系，但仅限于程序上不公正的警察行为条件下的参与者。讨论了理解少数群体在替代警察与公民遭遇中的应得判断的含义。对警察的认同影响了参与者的应得判断，而对遭遇中的公民的认同则不然。重要的是，对警察的认同调节了公民行为和应得性评估之间的关系，但仅限于程序上不公正的警察行为条件下的参与者。讨论了理解少数群体在替代警察与公民的遭遇中的应得判断的含义。对警察的认同影响了参与者的应得判断，而对遭遇中的公民的认同则不然。重要的是，对警察的认同调节了公民行为和应得性评估之间的关系，但仅限于程序上不公正的警察行为条件下的参与者。讨论了理解少数群体在替代警察与公民遭遇中的应得判断的含义。