An Experimental Study on Public Attitudes Toward Procedural Justice and Police Legitimacy Across Racial Groups

• In Event: Procedural Justice Across Global and Local Contexts

Abstract

Much research explores how procedural justice influences individuals' duty to obey the police across various contexts. However, few studies have examined this relationship using nationally representative data and included relevant correlates such as political ideology and immigration status in understanding the relation between procedural justice and police legitimacy. Additionally, less is known about the effect of racial identity assigned to individuals in citizen-police interaction on public perceptions of procedural justice and the obligation to obey. Using national data (n=1,000) collected in 2023, respondents were randomly assigned to survey items in which individuals subjected to police authority were labeled as "Black," "Latino," "Minority," or "White." This study aims to investigate the following questions: 1) Do participants’ perceptions of procedural justice impact their obligation to obey the police? 2) Do participants’ responses to obligation-to-obey items differ depending on the racial identity of the individual subject to police authority? Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the relationship between procedural justice and the obligation to obey and the moderating role of assigned racial identity. Answering these questions will help us better understand how the American public’s perceptions of the police impact their views about cooperation and the obligation to obey the police.

Authors

• Xichen Wang, University of Massachusetts Lowell

• Joselyne Nkogo, University of Massachusetts Lowell

• Jason Rydberg, University of Massachusetts Lowell

• Yaning Yue, University of Massachusetts Lowell