Trust in the police and affective evaluation of police faces: a preliminary study
IntroductionA study was conducted to investigate if an individual’s trust in law enforcement affects their perception of the emotional facial expressions displayed by police officers.MethodsThe study invited 77 participants to rate the valence of 360 face images. Images featured individuals without...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1258297/full |
| _version_ | 1827763878676660224 |
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| author | Nicolas M. Brunet Natalya K. Marsh Caitlin R. Bean Zachary A. Powell |
| author_facet | Nicolas M. Brunet Natalya K. Marsh Caitlin R. Bean Zachary A. Powell |
| author_sort | Nicolas M. Brunet |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionA study was conducted to investigate if an individual’s trust in law enforcement affects their perception of the emotional facial expressions displayed by police officers.MethodsThe study invited 77 participants to rate the valence of 360 face images. Images featured individuals without headgear (condition 1), or with a baseball cap (condition 2) or police hat (condition 3) digitally added to the original photograph. The images were balanced across sex, race/ethnicity (Asian, African American, Latine, and Caucasian), and facial expression (Happy, Neutral, and Angry). After rating the facial expressions, respondents completed a survey about their attitudes toward the police.ResultsThe results showed that, on average, valence ratings for “Angry” faces were similar across all experimental conditions. However, a closer examination revealed that faces with police hats were perceived as angrier compared to the control conditions (those with no hat and those with a baseball cap) by individuals who held negative views of the police. Conversely, participants with positive attitudes toward the police perceived faces with police hats as less angry compared to the control condition. This correlation was highly significant for angry faces (p < 0.01), and stronger in response to male faces compared to female faces but was not significant for neutral or happy faces.DiscussionThe study emphasizes the substantial role of attitudes in shaping social perception, particularly within the context of law enforcement. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T10:56:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1fea1d40527b47398d87553615e53791 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T10:56:56Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-1fea1d40527b47398d87553615e537912023-11-13T04:59:06ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782023-11-011410.3389/fpsyg.2023.12582971258297Trust in the police and affective evaluation of police faces: a preliminary studyNicolas M. Brunet0Natalya K. Marsh1Caitlin R. Bean2Zachary A. Powell3Department of Psychology, California State University, San Bernardino, San Bernardino, CA, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, California State University, San Bernardino, San Bernardino, CA, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, California State University, San Bernardino, San Bernardino, CA, United StatesSchool of Criminology and Criminal Justice of Criminal Justice, California State University, San Bernardino, San Bernardino, CA, United StatesIntroductionA study was conducted to investigate if an individual’s trust in law enforcement affects their perception of the emotional facial expressions displayed by police officers.MethodsThe study invited 77 participants to rate the valence of 360 face images. Images featured individuals without headgear (condition 1), or with a baseball cap (condition 2) or police hat (condition 3) digitally added to the original photograph. The images were balanced across sex, race/ethnicity (Asian, African American, Latine, and Caucasian), and facial expression (Happy, Neutral, and Angry). After rating the facial expressions, respondents completed a survey about their attitudes toward the police.ResultsThe results showed that, on average, valence ratings for “Angry” faces were similar across all experimental conditions. However, a closer examination revealed that faces with police hats were perceived as angrier compared to the control conditions (those with no hat and those with a baseball cap) by individuals who held negative views of the police. Conversely, participants with positive attitudes toward the police perceived faces with police hats as less angry compared to the control condition. This correlation was highly significant for angry faces (p < 0.01), and stronger in response to male faces compared to female faces but was not significant for neutral or happy faces.DiscussionThe study emphasizes the substantial role of attitudes in shaping social perception, particularly within the context of law enforcement.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1258297/fullpolicingvalenceface perceptionemotional expressionsemotional facesaffect |
| spellingShingle | Nicolas M. Brunet Natalya K. Marsh Caitlin R. Bean Zachary A. Powell Trust in the police and affective evaluation of police faces: a preliminary study Frontiers in Psychology policing valence face perception emotional expressions emotional faces affect |
| title | Trust in the police and affective evaluation of police faces: a preliminary study |
| title_full | Trust in the police and affective evaluation of police faces: a preliminary study |
| title_fullStr | Trust in the police and affective evaluation of police faces: a preliminary study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Trust in the police and affective evaluation of police faces: a preliminary study |
| title_short | Trust in the police and affective evaluation of police faces: a preliminary study |
| title_sort | trust in the police and affective evaluation of police faces a preliminary study |
| topic | policing valence face perception emotional expressions emotional faces affect |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1258297/full |
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