1. Measures: Police Legitimacy Scale 6 (M=4.88, SD=.57, α=.85) 10 items, 4 point Likert scale “I agree with many of the values that define what the police stand for” Symbolic Racism Scale 4 (M=1.67, SD=.45, α=.57) 10 items, 5 point Likert scale “Blacks are responsible for the racial tension existing in the US today” Modern Racism Scale 5 (M-1.86, SD=.70, α=.86) 7 items, 5 point Likert scale “It is easy to understand the anger of Black people in America” Hypothesis 1: When the police officer witness is Black or Hispanic, there will be lower witness credibility and more acquittals than when the police officer witness is White. Hypothesis 2: When the police officer witness is Black, witness credibility will be a mediator between racial bias & police legitimacy and juror judgement Participants: 250 Undergraduate students from the University of New Hampshire Sex: 84 males (34%), 166 females (66%) Age: 18.99 (SD=1.42) Predominately White (66%) Procedure: Online survey Demographics, police legitimacy, and racial bias scales In-Person Lab Visit PowerPoint presentation Final Paper Survey Credibility of the witness (1-5) Juror judgement: verdict (guilty +1/not guilty -1) × degree of certainty (1-5) Past Literature Systemic racism is a form of racial bias that manifests itself into social institutions, such as housing, healthcare, or the criminal justice system 1 More specifically, racial bias is a problem in the courtroom, where Black defendants are persecuted more often and more severely than White defendants for the same crime 3 Police legitimacy refers to attitudes towards the police- the extent to which people trust in and feel obligation to obey them 6 Minorities tend to report lower levels of police legitimacy, perhaps due to systemic racism 7 The eye witness testimony is an integral piece of evidence in trial- often weighed more heavily than physical evidence 8 Gaps in the literature Police are unique in the sense that they often act as expert witnesses and eye witnesses at the same time; however they have not been examined closely in this role in previous literature with the exception of Cole (2015). In addition, most researchers studying racial bias in the courtroom examine relations between Blacks and Whites- Hispanics have been ignored. Considering Racial Bias and Police Legitimacy in Mock Trials with Race Manipulations Stephanie E. Yee & Ellen S. Cohn, PhD Implications Aversive racism 1 may influence juror judgment when race is made salient by measuring racial bias before the experiment. Police legitimacy is considered with a Black police officer, but is not taken into account with a White or Hispanic police officer witness. Limitations Explicit measures of racial bias Racial bias was measured before mock trials Predominately White subject pool Future Directions Use implicit measures of racial bias Measure racial bias after mock trials to test role of salience Compare when race/ethnicity is explicit in this case to when it is not explicit Use a more diverse subject pool Use a different case that might involve violence not theft to see if it makes a difference Hypotheses ResultsDiscussion Method Introduction References 1 Cohn, E. S., Bucolo, D. O., & Sommers, S. R. (2012). Race and racism. In B. Cutler (Ed.), Conviction of the innocent: Lessons from psychological research (pgs. 279-301). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. 2 Dovidio, J. F., & Gaertner, S. L. (2004). Aversive racism. Advances in experimental social psychology, 36, 1-52. 3 Feagin, J., & Elias, S. (2013). Rethinking racial formation theory: A systemic racism critique. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 36(6), 931-960. 4 Henry, P. J., & Sears, D. O. (2002). The symbolic racism 2000 scale. Political Psychology, \ 23, 253-283 5 McConahay, J. B. (1986). Modern racism, ambivalence, and the modern racism scale. In J. F. Dovidio & S. L. Gaertner (Eds.), Prejudice, discrimination, and racism (pp. 91-126). New York: Academic Press. 6 Tyler, T. R. (2004). Enhancing police legitimacy. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 593, 84-99. 7 Tyler, T. R. (2005). Policing in black and white: Ethnic group differences in trust and confidence in the police. Police Quarterly, 8(3), 322-342 8 Wells, G. L., Lindsay, R. C., & Tousignant, J. P. (1980). Effects of expert psychological advice on human performance in judging the validity of eyewitness testimony. Law and Human Behavior, 4(4), 275. For more information: sew223@wildcats.unh.edu Main Findings Race of police officer eye witness did not influence witness credibility or juror judgment. Racial bias was not a significant predictor of juror judgment. Witness credibility always influenced juror judgment. Police legitimacy influenced juror judgment with a Black police officer witness. Hypothesis 1* Hypothesis 2 *P>.05 Police Legitimacy Juror Judgment Witness Credibility 0.14 E= 0.44 0.46 E= 0.25.38 Police Legitimacy Juror Judgment Witness Credibility 0.45 E= 0.42 0.62 E= 0.24.39 Police Legitimacy Juror Judgment Witness Credibility -0.15 E=0.41 0.69 E=0.19.48 Race of police officer MeanStd. DeviationN Witness Credibility White Black Hispanic 6.82 6.96 6.94 1.68 1.69 1.74 60 48 53 Juror Judgment White Black Hispanic 1.67 1.69 1.02 3.49 3.57 3.67 60 48 53 White police officer Black police officer Hispanic police officer