Open AccessSupporting social hierarchy is associated with White police officers’ use of force
Author(s) -
Jillian K. Swencionis,
Enrique R. Pouget,
Phillip Atiba Goff
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2007693118
Subject(s) - officer , use of force , social psychology , white (mutation) , social dominance orientation , psychology , criminology , race (biology) , binomial regression , political science , sociology , gender studies , logistic regression , law , medicine , international law , biochemistry , chemistry , authoritarianism , politics , democracy , gene
Significance We test whether White police officers who endorse social hierarchies are more likely than less hierarchy-supportive White police officers to use physical force when interacting with residents. In three United States cities, we found that White police officers with relatively higher social dominance orientation (SDO) were more likely than lower-SDO White officers to use force when interacting with residents. Black police officers, who hold a lower-status racial identity, showed nonsignificant or negative relationships between SDO and use of force. That White officers’ orientation toward enforcing hierarchies predicts their rate of force in three cities suggests the need for closer examination of how hierarchy maintenance relates to police use of force.