Doctoral Dissertation Research: Exploring the Effects of Stereotype Threat in Police Encounters: Why Innocent African Americans are at Risk of Being Targeted as Suspects

本研究测试了一种新的社会心理学解释，该解释侧重于警察与公民的互动。具体来说，在与警察的接触中，无辜的黑人可能会担心因为刻板印象把他们描绘成容易犯罪而受到不公平的评判。这种“刻板印象威胁”产生焦虑和兴奋，导致个体管理自己的行为，并增加对认知资源的需求。然而，具有讽刺意味的是，这些相关性产生了与警察用来区分说谎者和说真话者相同的非语言行为。因此，受到威胁的黑人可能比没有受到威胁的白人更有可能做出警察认为可疑的行为。研究人员将测试刻板印象威胁及其相关因素是否解释了黑人和白人从事欺骗性行为频率的差异。事前和事后测试将评估阶段性警察遭遇是否会对黑人和白人的刻板印象威胁、焦虑、生理唤醒、自我调节和认知负荷产生不同的影响。这次会面的录像将被编码，以确定参与者是否有通常被认为是欺骗的非语言行为（例如，厌恶目光、坐立不安）。对不同种族群体的无端差别待遇会破坏警察的合法性，妨碍他们发挥作用。目前的研究结果将为未来的研究提供信息，以遏制黑人在警察遭遇中受到刻板印象威胁的经历，并防止非语言行为的影响转化为刑事司法系统中的种族差异。

This research tests a novel social psychological explanation which focuses on police-citizen interactions. Specifically, in police encounters, innocent Blacks might be concerned about being judged unfairly because of stereotypes depicting them as prone to crime. Such "stereotype threat" produces anxiety and arousal, leads individuals to manage their behavior, and increases demands on cognitive resources. Ironically, however, these correlates produce the same nonverbal behaviors that police use to distinguish liars from truth-tellers. Thus, threatened Blacks might be more likely than non-threatened Whites to behave in ways that police perceive as suspicious. The researchers will test whether stereotype threat and its correlates explain differences in the frequency with which Blacks and Whites engage in deceptive-looking behavior. Pre- and post-tests will assess whether a staged police encounter differentially affects Blacks' and Whites' feelings of stereotype threat, anxiety, physiological arousal, self-regulation, and cognitive load. Videotapes of the encounter will be coded to determine whether participants engaged in nonverbal behaviors commonly perceived as deceptive (e.g., gaze aversion, fidgeting).The unwarranted disparate treatment of different racial groups can undermine the legitimacy of the police and prevent them from being effective. Findings from the current research will inform future research on curbing Blacks' experiences of stereotype threat in police encounters and preventing effects on nonverbal behavior from translating into racial disparities in the criminal justice system.