Shooter biases and stereotypes among police and civilians
The present research assesses potential correlates of discriminatory police behavior, comparing police and civilian participants in a first person shooter task (FPST) as well as on various self-report measures of intergroup contact, intergroup attitudes, and ideological beliefs in three preregistere...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Acta Psychologica |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691822003353 |
| _version_ | 1797955435172462592 |
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| author | Marleen Stelter Iniobong Essien Anette Rohmann Juliane Degner Stefanie Kemme |
| author_facet | Marleen Stelter Iniobong Essien Anette Rohmann Juliane Degner Stefanie Kemme |
| author_sort | Marleen Stelter |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The present research assesses potential correlates of discriminatory police behavior, comparing police and civilian participants in a first person shooter task (FPST) as well as on various self-report measures of intergroup contact, intergroup attitudes, and ideological beliefs in three preregistered studies. Study 1 (N = 330), using a FPST with a short response window (630 ms), did not observe shooter biases in reaction times, error rates and signal detection parameters in neither police nor civilian participants. Study 2a (N = 290), using a longer response window (850 ms), observed a shooter bias in reaction times, error rates, and response criterion in both civilian and police participants. These shooter biases were largely driven by faster reactions, fewer errors, and more liberal shoot decisions for armed Arab (vs. White) targets. Study 2b (N = 191; 850 ms response window) closely replicated shooter biases in reaction times, error rates, and response criterion in a sample of civilian online participants. Across studies, we observed similar results in the shooter task for police and civilian samples. Furthermore, both police and civilian participants expressed anti-Muslim and anti-Arab attitudes across a variety of self-report measures. However, compared to civilians, police participants reported higher levels of anti-Muslim attitudes on some measures as well as higher levels of social dominance orientation, which might pose additional risk factors for discriminatory behavior. Lastly, while we observed reliable individual differences in self-reported intergroup attitudes, ideologies, and intergroup contact, none of these characteristics correlated with shooter biases. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T23:34:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a48b450547604a8aa4ec33ab223c45bf |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0001-6918 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T23:34:12Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Acta Psychologica |
| spelling | doaj.art-a48b450547604a8aa4ec33ab223c45bf2023-01-12T04:18:14ZengElsevierActa Psychologica0001-69182023-02-01232103820Shooter biases and stereotypes among police and civiliansMarleen Stelter0Iniobong Essien1Anette Rohmann2Juliane Degner3Stefanie Kemme4Universität Hamburg, Germany; FernUniversität in Hagen, GermanyFernUniversität in Hagen, Germany; Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Germany; Corresponding author at: Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Department of Social and Organisational Psychology of Social Work, Universitätsallee 1, C1.302, 21335 Lüneburg, Germany.FernUniversität in Hagen, GermanyUniversität Hamburg, GermanyUniversity of Applied Police Sciences Hamburg, GermanyThe present research assesses potential correlates of discriminatory police behavior, comparing police and civilian participants in a first person shooter task (FPST) as well as on various self-report measures of intergroup contact, intergroup attitudes, and ideological beliefs in three preregistered studies. Study 1 (N = 330), using a FPST with a short response window (630 ms), did not observe shooter biases in reaction times, error rates and signal detection parameters in neither police nor civilian participants. Study 2a (N = 290), using a longer response window (850 ms), observed a shooter bias in reaction times, error rates, and response criterion in both civilian and police participants. These shooter biases were largely driven by faster reactions, fewer errors, and more liberal shoot decisions for armed Arab (vs. White) targets. Study 2b (N = 191; 850 ms response window) closely replicated shooter biases in reaction times, error rates, and response criterion in a sample of civilian online participants. Across studies, we observed similar results in the shooter task for police and civilian samples. Furthermore, both police and civilian participants expressed anti-Muslim and anti-Arab attitudes across a variety of self-report measures. However, compared to civilians, police participants reported higher levels of anti-Muslim attitudes on some measures as well as higher levels of social dominance orientation, which might pose additional risk factors for discriminatory behavior. Lastly, while we observed reliable individual differences in self-reported intergroup attitudes, ideologies, and intergroup contact, none of these characteristics correlated with shooter biases.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691822003353Police officer's dilemmaFirst-person shooter taskShooter biasThreat stereotypesAnti-muslim prejudice |
| spellingShingle | Marleen Stelter Iniobong Essien Anette Rohmann Juliane Degner Stefanie Kemme Shooter biases and stereotypes among police and civilians Acta Psychologica Police officer's dilemma First-person shooter task Shooter bias Threat stereotypes Anti-muslim prejudice |
| title | Shooter biases and stereotypes among police and civilians |
| title_full | Shooter biases and stereotypes among police and civilians |
| title_fullStr | Shooter biases and stereotypes among police and civilians |
| title_full_unstemmed | Shooter biases and stereotypes among police and civilians |
| title_short | Shooter biases and stereotypes among police and civilians |
| title_sort | shooter biases and stereotypes among police and civilians |
| topic | Police officer's dilemma First-person shooter task Shooter bias Threat stereotypes Anti-muslim prejudice |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691822003353 |
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