Date Available

1-5-2024

Year of Publication

2024

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Document Type

Master's Thesis

College

Arts and Sciences

Department/School/Program

Psychology

First Advisor

Dr. Christopher K. Marshburn

Abstract

Perceptions of police-civilian interactions have been found to be impacted by the perspective in which they are viewed, with first-person perspectives eliciting negative perceptions of civilians and positive perceptions of police. However, the nature of the relationship between race and camera-perspective has not been fully explored. Black people are more likely to harmed by police at a disproportionate rate compared to White people, and consequently, have more negative perceptions of police. Three studies investigated what factors informed perceptions of police encounters, particularly when camera perspectives differed. Results showed partial support for my prediction that Black people are as not susceptible to camera perspective bias effects when making judgments of police encounters. However, I found support that White people are also not susceptible to camera perspective effects when given time to watch the videoed police encounters repeatedly. This may indicate that giving additional time to scrutinize police-interaction videos can decrease bias against civilians. Additionally, I found support that people may view civilians less harshly when they are seen defending themselves and perceive Black women less harshly in these situations. Altogether, these findings suggest that there are certain factors that decrease the likelihood that camera perspective bias will influence judgments of police encounters.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2024.230

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