Do Police Officers' Beliefs About Emotional Witnesses Influence the Questions They Ask?

High emotional arousal associated with witnessing a crime promotes memory error. Police are trained to use open‐ended questioning (i.e., Cognitive Interview) to guard against contaminating fragile witness memory, but do they follow this protocol? We investigated whether officers' belief about arousal's impact on crime scene memory influenced their questioning procedures. Officers read crime scenarios describing the witness/victim as either emotionally distraught or calm, and then they chose among open‐ended and close‐ended question options for witness interviews. Results showed that emotionally aroused witnesses were asked more closed questions by officers who believed arousal did not hurt memory, while officers who believed arousal negatively impacted memory accuracy asked more open‐ended questions. This relationship was not influenced by police experience. Results suggest that regardless of training and empirical findings, beliefs about the arousal–memory relationship may guide the questioning technique that officers employ, potentially contaminating already vulnerable witness memory. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Group efficacy as a moderator on the associations between perceived discrimination,acculturation orientations,and psychological well‐being

We investigated whether associations between perceived discrimination (PD), acculturation orientations (desire for culture maintenance and desire for contact), and well‐being (psychological well‐being and life satisfaction) were moderated by group efficacy beliefs—the extent to which group members believe in their ability to achieve social change collectively. We recruited 163 Syrian refugees (M_age = 36.43, SD = 12.68; 88 females and 75 males) from a south‐eastern city in Turkey. PD was negatively associated with desire for culture maintenance and positively associated with desire for contact, indicating an assimilation trend as a response to PD. Both acculturation orientations in turn predicted well‐being positively. However, the ones with higher group efficacy did not experience the detrimental effects of PD on well‐being and indicated a stronger desire for contacting mainstream society. Further conditional indirect effects demonstrated that only among the ones with lower group efficacy, PD was related to lower psychological well‐being through reduced culture maintenance. Findings indicate the critical role of group efficacy beliefs in the understanding of disadvantaged group members' reactions to PD.     

On the Psychological Function of Nationalistic “Whitelash”

A noticeable feature of the political discourse accompanying the rise of nationalism in white‐majority countries is that white people fare worse than other ethnic groups in their societies. However, it is unclear based on the extant literature why group‐based relative deprivation (GRD) would correlate with majority‐group nationalism. Here, we propose that the psychological function of nationalism for majority‐group members lies in its ability to assuage the negative feelings arising from GRD. Accordingly, in a New Zealand national probability sample (N = 15,607), we found that GRD among whites was negatively associated with well‐being. However, we also found an opposing indirect association mediated by nationalism. GRD was associated with higher nationalism, which was in turn associated with higher well‐being. These findings suggest that endorsing beliefs about national superiority is one way a nation’s dominant ethnic group can cope with the negative psychological consequences of perceiving that their group is deprived.     

Police endorsement of color‐blind racial beliefs and propensity to interact with youth of color

The beliefs of police, as the point of first contact with the justice system, may help to explain disproportionate minority contact between police and young people. Color‐blind racial beliefs, a form of implicit racism in which racial differences are denied, are more strongly endorsed by police than by laypeople. Using a 2 (youth race) × 3 (offense severity) experimental design, 339 officers participated in an online study examining the influence of youth race, offense severity, and officers' color‐blind racial beliefs on officers' reported likelihood of interacting with young people. Officers with lower levels of color‐blind beliefs reported they would be less likely to interact with Black youth. Additionally, attrition analyses indicated that officers assigned to the Black youth condition were more likely to drop out when asked to complete the measure of color‐blind beliefs. Policy and practice implications are discussed, with a focus on promoting greater discussion of color‐blind ideologies in multicultural trainings for police officers and increasing frank discussions about race and racial issues.     

What I think you see is what you get: Influence of prejudice on assimilation to negative meta‐stereotypes among Dutch Moroccan teenagers

This research examined how Dutch Moroccan teenagers in the Netherlands deal with the negative stereotype that they believe the Dutch have about their group. We hypothesize that Moroccans act in line with this negative image when they are prejudiced against the Dutch and feel personally meta‐stereotyped. A survey study among 88 Dutch Moroccan teenagers revealed that Moroccan teenagers who felt negative about the Dutch and thought that they were personally negatively stereotyped, expressed attitudes in line with this negative “meta‐stereotype.” That is, they act in line with the outgroup's negative image by legitimizing criminality, aggression, loitering teenagers, and Muslim extremism. These findings suggest that being confronted with a negative stereotype about one's group might sometimes lead to a reaction that is both harmful for the stereotyped group as well as society in general. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Crosscultural Police-Citizen Interactions: The Influence of Race,Beliefs, and Nonverbal Communication on Impression Formation1

Several studies done in both the United States and Europe suggest that police officers assess black citizens more negatively than they do white citizens. In this article, it is hypothesized that this differential treatment is caused by a lack of correspondence between a white police officer and a black citizen. Two experiments are reported that examine the impact of three different kinds of lack of correspondence-in race, beliefs, and nonverbal behavior–on the formation of the impression that the citizen is a suspect in the committal of a crime. The results revealed that black nonverbal behavior and dissimilar beliefs resulted in a negative assessment. Black skin color resulted in an unpredicted positive effect. Some implications of these results for more traditional analyses of prejudice and discrimination will be discussed.     

Weapons and Eye Contact as Instigators or Inhibitors of Aggressive Arousal in Police-Citizen Interaction1

A field experiment was conducted with police officers during the normal course of their traffic patrol duties. The purpose was to determine whether the presence of holstered weapons and mirror sunglasses affected the degree of aggressiveness expressed nonverbally, and reported on a mood scale by citizens halted for an information check (neutral condition) or in order to be given a traffic ticket (negative condition). Results indicated that subjects in the negative condition both expressed and reported more aggressivity when the police officer wore a weapon than when no weapon was visible. The use of sunglasses had no effect on aggressivity but resulted in the officer's being perceived more negatively, though he was not perceived more negatively when he wore a weapon. No sex differences in expressed or reported aggressivity were obtained, although some sex differences on measures of secondary interest did occur. The implications of these findings for research on the “weapons effect” and on policy regarding the visibility of police weapons and the wearing of sunglasses by police officers are discussed.     

Religion and the Acceptability of White‐Collar Crime: A Cross‐National Analysis

This article examines whether shared religious beliefs and religious social relationships (Durkheim) and belief in a personal, moral God (Stark) negatively affect attitudes toward the acceptability of white‐collar crime. In addition, using a large cross‐national sample and estimating multilevel models, we test whether effects are conditional on modernization and religious contexts characterized by belief in an impersonal or amoral God. Shared religious beliefs and the importance of God in one's life are negatively related to the acceptability of white‐collar crime. These effects, however, weaken in religious contexts characterized by belief in an impersonal or amoral God as do the effects of religious social relationships and belonging to a religious organization; modernization, on the other hand, does not have a moderating effect. In short, religious belief is associated with lower acceptance of white‐collar crime and certain types of religious contexts condition this relationship.     

Self‐Reported Beliefs About Verbal Cues Correlate with Deception‐Detection Performance

In this study, we investigated whether people who hold more correct beliefs about verbal cues to deception are also better lie detectors. We investigated police officers and undergraduates' beliefs about (i) cues to deception via an open‐ended question and (ii) 17 specific verbal cues, after which participants were asked to judge the truthfulness of eight video fragments. Results showed that undergraduates and police officers still hold wrongful beliefs about nonverbal cues, but have better insight into verbal cues. Moreover, a better insight in verbal cues was related to an increased accuracy for identifying truthful statements, showing that verbal cues do drive credibility judgments to some extent.Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Competition in stereotyped domains: Competition,social comparison,and stereotype threat

The current work examines a novel and specific way in which competition can hurt the performance of negatively stereotyped individuals: by evoking stereotype threat. In four experiments, we demonstrate that women's underperformance in math when primed with competition was due to feeling worried about confirming negative stereotypes about women's math ability (i.e., stereotype threat), that the activation of negative performance stereotypes for women primed with competition was due to increased group‐level social comparisons (i.e., comparing the self with men and women), and that priming competition led men to perform more poorly than women in a domain where they are negatively stereotyped (i.e., verbal ability). This research suggests that priming people with competition in contexts where they are negatively stereotyped leads to greater social comparison, activation of negative stereotypes, and concern about confirming these stereotypes, thereby decreasing stereotyped individuals' performance in the stereotyped domain. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Efficacy and well‐being in rural north India: The role of social identification with a large‐scale community identity

Identifying with a group can contribute to a sense of well‐being. The mechanisms involved are diverse: social identification with a group can impact individuals' beliefs about issues such as their connections with others, the availability of social support, the meaningfulness of existence, and the continuity of their identity. Yet, there seems to be a common theme to these mechanisms: identification with a group encourages the belief that one can cope with the stressors one faces (which is associated with better well‐being). Our research investigated the relationship between identification, beliefs about coping, and well‐being in a survey (N = 792) administered in rural North India. Using structural equation modelling, we found that social identification as a Hindu had positive and indirect associations with three measures of well‐being through the belief that one can cope with everyday stressors. We also found residual associations between participants' social identification as a Hindu and two measures of well‐being in which higher identification was associated with poorer well‐being. We discuss these findings and their implication for understanding the relationship between social identification (especially with large‐scale group memberships) and well‐being. We also discuss the application of social psychological theory developed in the urban West to rural north India. © 2014 The Authors. European Journal of Social Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Positive weighing of the other's collective narrative among Jewish and Bedouin‐Palestinian teachers in Israel and its correlates

Teachers play a pivotal role in the educational discourse around collective narratives, and especially the other's narrative. The study assumed that members of groups entangled in a conflict approach the different modules of the other's narrative distinctively. Jewish and Palestinian teachers, Israeli citizens, answered questionnaires dealing with the narrative of the other, readiness for interethnic contact, negative between‐group emotions and preferences for resolutions of the Israeli–Palestinian (I–P) conflict. Positive weighing of the other's narrative among Jewish teachers correlated with high levels of readiness for interethnic contact and low levels of negative between‐group emotions, across the various modules of the Palestinian narrative. Preferences for a peaceful resolution of the I–P conflict and rejection of a violent one were noted in two of the modules. Among Palestinian teachers, positive weighing of the other's collective narrative was exclusively noted for the Israeli narrative of the Holocaust, and this stance negatively related to negative between‐group emotions and preference for a violent solution of the I–P conflict, and positively related to readiness for interethnic contact and preference of a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Practical implications of these findings for peace education are discussed.     

Looks like a liar? Beliefs about native and non-native speakers' deception

We examined whether observers' beliefs about deception were affected by a speaker's language proficiency. Laypersons (N = 105) and police officers (N = 75) indicated which nonverbal and verbal behaviors were predictive of native versus non-native speakers' deception. In addition, they provided their beliefs about these speakers' interrogation experiences. Participants believed that native and non-native speakers would exhibit the same cues to deception. However, they did predict that non-native speakers would likely face several challenges during interrogations (e.g., longer interrogations and difficulties understanding the interrogator's questions). Police officers and laypersons also differed in their beliefs about cues to deception and interrogation experiences.     

“I changed and hid my old ways”: How social rejection and social identities shape well‐being among ex‐prisoners

Being a member of a rejected group negatively affects well‐being but can also increase group identification, which can have positive effects on well‐being. However, this rejection‐identification model has never been investigated among the highly stigmatized group of ex‐prisoners. Furthermore, the potential buffering role of multiple group memberships has never been investigated within the rejection‐identification model. We conduct a novel investigation of a combined rejection‐identification and social cure model of group‐based rejection among ex‐prisoners. A survey of 199 ex‐prisoners found that experiencing group‐based rejection was associated with poorer well‐being and increased ex‐prisoner identification. However, identification as an ex‐prisoner magnified, rather than buffered, the relationship between rejection and reduced well‐being. Furthermore, the negative relationship between rejection and well‐being was particularly pronounced among ex‐prisoners with a higher number of group memberships. Ex‐prisoners with a greater number of group memberships experienced greater levels of rejection, suggesting group memberships increase their exposure to rejection. We therefore provide evidence of a boundary condition for the social cure properties of groups. Among members of strongly rejected social groups, multiple group memberships can be a social curse rather than social cure.     

Creative self‐efficacy as mediator between creative mindsets and creative problem‐solving

An emerging area of research is how one's mindset regarding the fixedness and malleability of creative ability relates to creative performance. Malleable creative mindsets tend to be positively related to creativity while fixed mindsets often show a negative association. Similarly, creative self‐efficacy, or one's beliefs that they have the capacity to be creative, is also related to creative performance and creative mindsets. While previous studies tested the direct relationship between mindsets and creativity, this study tested creative self‐efficacy in this relationship. A total of 152 students from a Midwestern university participated in the study. They were provided with measures of creative self‐efficacy, creative mindsets, and creative problem‐solving. Solutions were assessed in terms of quality and originality. Results indicated that both malleable creative mindsets and creative self‐efficacy were positively related to solution quality and originality while fixed creative mindsets were negatively related. Mediation analysis using Preacher and Hayes' (2004) bootstrapping macro showed that creative self‐efficacy mediated the relationship between malleable mindsets and quality and originality as well as the relationship between fixed mindsets and quality and originality. This research advances the study of creativity by demonstrating that creative self‐efficacy is an important mechanism through which creative mindsets relate to creative performance.     

Chinese adolescents with higher social dominance orientation are less prosocial and less happy: A value‐environment fit analysis

This study aims to investigate the relationship between social dominance orientation (SDO) and subjective well‐being among Chinese adolescents (N = 4246), and to examine the mediating role of prosocial behaviour in this relationship. The structural equation model's results showed that SDO was negatively associated with prosocial behaviour and subjective well‐being, that prosocial behaviour was positively associated with subjective well‐being, and also that (low) prosocial behaviour partially mediated the negative relationship between SDO and subjective well‐being. Multi‐group analyses showed that the mediation model was generally similar between boys and girls, but that the negative relationship between SDO and prosocial behaviour was somewhat stronger among girls than boys. This study sheds light on how SDO is associated with positive outcomes among Chinese adolescents and highlights the mediating role of prosocial behaviour as an underlying mechanism between SDO and subjective well‐being. Future studies are needed to further discover the role of culture values in the association between SDO and subjective well‐being.     

Meta‐stereotypes,Social Image and Help Seeking: Dependency‐Related Meta‐stereotypes Reduce Help‐Seeking Behaviour

People who need help can be reluctant to seek it. This can be due to social image concerns. Here, we investigate if these concerns may be prompted by a salient negative meta‐stereotype: the belief that one's group is judged negatively by another group. Specifically, we researched group members' help‐seeking behaviour in the context of a dependency‐related meta‐stereotype. In a two‐condition study (N = 45), we manipulated participants' belief that their national group was judged dependent by a significant out‐group. We then examined their subsequent help‐seeking behaviour on a real‐world task. Participants whose social identity as a group member was salient showed greater reluctance to seek help when the meta‐stereotype was made prominent compared with when it was not. This suggests that, in a context where social image and social identity concerns are relevant, group members are willing to sacrifice the possibility of accessing needed help in order to avoid confirming a negative stereotype of their group. The implications of these results for helping transactions and community development are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

“I'm a police officer not a social worker or mental health nurse”: Online discourses of exclusion and resistance regarding mental health‐related police work

Despite estimates suggesting that around 15% of UK police incidents involve people with a mental health concern, officers receive very little mental health training. The police have faced high‐profile criticisms over their handling of mental health‐related incidents, whereas the underfunding and fragmentation of UK mental health services has led to concerns that police officers are being forced to undertake a primary role in mental health care. At a time of austerity and widespread cuts to public services, it is important to explore how particular groups work to justify the parameters of their professional duties. This article therefore explores the discourses surrounding mental health problems on an online police discussion forum, highlighting two distinct ways in which mental health‐related work is represented as being incompatible with policing. First, mental health problems are delegitimised and conflated with “scrounging,” positioning individuals as undeserving of police time; second, mental health problems are reified and associated with violence and extreme behaviour, justifying the use of force by police officers and deflecting responsibility onto mental health services. Findings are consistent with previous research suggesting that mental health work is not perceived to be a valid part of the police role.     

“Here we're all in the same boat” – a qualitative study of group based rehabilitation for sick‐listed citizens with chronic pain

Musculoskeletal pain impacts upon everyday life. A degree of chronicity may pose an increased risk of sickness absence. One of two rehabilitative interventions, “Tailored Physical Activity” or “Chronic Pain Self‐Management Program”, was offered to sick‐listed citizens who experienced pain. The objectives of this paper were to: (1) Assess what factors are experienced as problematic for sick‐listed citizens in everyday life with chronic pain, and (2) Evaluate the significance of two distinct rehabilitative interventions on the future everyday lives of sick‐listed citizens. Seven semi‐structured interviews with sick‐listed citizens were analyzed using a phenomenological‐hermeneutical approach. Results were discussed by applying the theoretical framework of Antonovsky's salutogenetic model and Yaloms principles for group psychology. The potential for development of citizen's coping is evaluated based on Roessler's notion of progression. The analysis revealed four main themes: (1) Living with pain and unemployment; (2) “Putting my foot down” and “asking for help”; (3) Significance of the group, including instructors, and; (4) Aspects significant to progression. Unemployment is a major life event that promotes stress and can be accompanied by problems related to depressed mood, acceptance of the life situation, feelings of not being useful, feelings of losing control and identity conflicts. Group characteristics that gave a significant basis for progression in the self‐management program are both emotional and instrumental, while the physical training program offers a “here‐and‐now”‐experience and motivation to participate. This study indicates that the self‐management program could potentially improve coping while the physical activity program revealed one example of a means of progression.     

Perceived Authoritarianism in Self and Others by Male College Students and Police Officers

This study tested 62 police officers and 62 college males on their own authoritarianism and their estimates of the authoritarian beliefs of the other group. College students perceived police officers as much more authoritarian than the officers represented themselves as being ( p < .0001). Officers were accurate in their estimations of students' authoritarianism, and there was no difference between officers and students in their characterizations of their own authoritarianism. The differences between these findings and those in much of the literature (especially that from the early 1970s) may be due to differences in police experience: Many of the officers in this sample had some college and thus direct experience with students. It may also be that officers are now being specifically chosen on the basis of less authoritarian attitudes. The results imply that rather than focusing on changing the attitudes of officers, police departments desiring better public relations might do well to concentrate on correcting public opinion.