The Effect of Race on Police Punishment: A Matter of Loyalty or Threat? Evan Murphy1 & Samantha Schmidt2 New College of Florida1, Valparaiso University2 Introduction Results Conclusions White jurors were less likely to view police altercation as misconduct and punished this particular officer less than non-white jurors Threat explained/mediated the relationship between race and punishment We can conclude that non-white jurors felt more threat from police, and therefore punished this particular officer more than white jurors Does race matter in juries? White and nonwhite jurors follow different punishment patterns (Devine et al., 2001; Lynch & Haney, 2001) Does race affect perceptions of police? White individuals are less likely to see police as a threat (Weitzer & Tuch, 2004;Weitzer, Tuch, & Skogan, 2008) Non-white individuals perceive higher rates of police misconduct (Weitzer & Tuch, 2004) Loyalty and threat in juror decision making Higher loyalty  More leniency in verdicts and sentencing for own group members (Mitchell et al., 2005; Wright, Dinsmore, & Kellaris, 2013) Higher perceptions of threat are correlated with increased severity of punishment responses (Gordon & Arian, 2001) Research questions Does juror race predict punishment of police? What motivates cross-race differences in police punishment? Implications Growing number/awareness of police misconduct cases Offer a better understanding of race and jury decision making Evidence for the need of racially diverse juries in police misconduct cases Future Directions Increase sampling of different races and ethnicities Further investigate potential mediating and moderating factors Personal experience with police Geographic location (rural vs. urban) Further explore development of feelings of threat in regards to police Method Race Differences in Punishment of Police Nonwhite jurors (M= 4.40, SD=1.59), punished this particular police officer more more than white jurors ( M= 3.87, SD=1.38), in our possible case of police misconduct Participants 186 individuals participated in this study (79 males, 105 females; 92 white, 95 non-white; Ages 18-73, MAge= 28.04) Materials & Procedure Participants were recruited and surveyed in New York City parks The survey was comprised of two parts: Participants’ feelings toward police Participants as a juror Measuring Loyalty Four question loyalty scale on 5-point Likert scale Ex: “I am loyal to police officers.” and “It is important to show respect for the police badge.” Measuring Threat 5 pictures of police aggression on 5-point Likert scale Asked: “How representative is this photograph of police officers in general?” Asked to serve as a juror in the trial of a police officer Presented a short vignette depicting an ambiguous altercation between a police officer and citizen in which the officer’s physical aggression is in question Asked four questions on a 7-point Likert scale regarding punishment of police officer How likely to require punishment of police officer? How likely to require officer pay a fine? How likely to require that officer serve jail time? How likely to require officer to be put on probation? References Devine, D. J., Clayton, L. D., Dunford, B. B., Seying, R., & Pryce, J. (2001). Jury decision making: 45 years of empirical research on deliberating groups. Psychology, public policy, and law, 7(3), 622. Gordon, C., & Arian, A. (2001). Threat and decision making. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 45(2), 196-215. Lynch, M., & Haney, C. (2001). Impelling/Impeding the Momentum Toward Death: An Analysis of Attorneys' Final Arguments in California Capital Penalty Phase Trials. Typescript. LynchImpelling/Impeding the Momentum Toward Death: An Analysis of Attorneys' Final Arguments in California Capital Penalty Phase Trials2001. Mitchell, T. L., Haw, R. M., Pfeifer, J. E., & Meissner, C. A. (2005). Racial bias in mock juror decision-making: a meta-analytic review of defendant treatment. Law and human behavior, 29(6), 621. Weitzer, R., & Tuch, S. A. (2004). Race and perceptions of police misconduct. Social problems, 51(3), 305-325. Weitzer, R., Tuch, S. A., & Skogan, W. G. (2008). Police–community relations in a majority-Black city. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency. Wright, S. A., Dinsmore, J. B., & Kellaris, J. J. (2013). How group loyalties shape ethical judgment and punishment preferences. Psychology & Marketing, 30(3), 203-210. Acknowledgments I would like to thank Samantha Schmidt for her valuable help on this project as well as Yael Granot for her assistance throughout the project. Special thanks to Emily Balcetis and Tessa West for their guidance in their lab and REU program, in which this research was conducted. Finally, thank you to New York University, New College of Florida, and the National Science Foundation for making this all possible. Simultaneous Mediation Model Juror race predicted punishment of police officer We tested these two potential mechanisms in simultaneous mediation model, and found that threat, but not loyalty, uniquely explained the relationship between race and punishment.