Academic Journal
Police officers' prejudice and distrust towards racialized groups is related to internal motivation to suppress prejudice and negative intergroup contact.
| Title: | Police officers' prejudice and distrust towards racialized groups is related to internal motivation to suppress prejudice and negative intergroup contact. |
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| Authors: | Stelter M; FernUniversität in Hagen, Hagen, Germany., Essien I; Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Germany., von Bargen JM; FernUniversität in Hagen, Hagen, Germany.; Universität Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany., Christ O; FernUniversität in Hagen, Hagen, Germany. |
| Source: | The British journal of social psychology [Br J Soc Psychol] 2026 Jul; Vol. 65 (3), pp. e70094. |
| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Journal Info: | Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 8105534 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 2044-8309 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 01446665 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Br J Soc Psychol Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: <2012-> : Chichester : Wiley-Blackwell Original Publication: Letchworth Herts : British Psychological Society |
| MeSH Terms: | Police*/psychology , Racism*/psychology , Trust*/psychology , Prejudice*/psychology , Motivation* , Social Perception*, Humans ; Male ; Adult ; Female ; Social Group ; Germany ; Young Adult ; Middle Aged ; Social Dominance ; Arabs |
| Abstract: | Racialized individuals experience different interactions with the police compared to non-racialized individuals. This study investigates biases among German police officers (N = 208) towards individuals perceived as Arab. Police officers demonstrated shooter biases in a first-person shooter task, rated Arab individuals as less trustworthy, and expressed a preference for White individuals over Arab individuals. These biases closely mirrored those found in a civilian convenience sample (N = 237), with one notable difference: police officers showed significantly greater distrust towards Arab individuals than civilians. This heightened distrust was mediated by social dominance orientation and negative perceptions of intergroup contact. Additionally, internal motivation to suppress prejudice was as a strong predictor of both group preference and distrust in both samples. Collectively, these findings highlight that police officers, as a reflection of society, exhibit pervasive biases towards racialized groups, which might impact their interactions with minoritized communities. (© 2026 The Author(s). British Journal of Social Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.) |
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| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: discrimination; intergroup contact; police bias; prejudice; shooter bias; stereotypes |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260516 Date Completed: 20260717 Latest Revision: 20260728 |
| Update Code: | 20260728 |
| PubMed Central ID: | PMC13179431 |
| DOI: | 10.1111/bjso.70094 |
| PMID: | 42141529 |
| Database: | MEDLINE |
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