TY - JOUR
T1 - Seeing Blue in Black and White
T2 - Race and Perceptions of Officer-Involved Shootings
AU - Jefferson, Hakeem
AU - Neuner, Fabian G.
AU - Pasek, Josh
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Political Science Association.
PY - 2021/12/4
Y1 - 2021/12/4
N2 - Following racially charged events, individuals often diverge in perceptions of what happened and how justice should be served. Examining data gathered shortly after the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri alongside reactions to a novel officer-involved shooting, we unpack the processes by which racial divisions emerge. Even in a controlled information environment, white Americans preferred information that supported claims of a justified shooting. Conversely, Black Americans preferred information that implied that the officer behaved inappropriately. These differences stemmed from two distinct processes: we find some evidence for a form of race-based motivated reasoning and strong evidence for belief updating based on racially distinct priors. Differences in summary judgments were larger when individuals identified strongly with their racial group or when expectations about the typical behaviors of Black Americans and police diverged. The findings elucidate processes whereby individuals in different social groups come to accept differing narratives about contentious events.
AB - Following racially charged events, individuals often diverge in perceptions of what happened and how justice should be served. Examining data gathered shortly after the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri alongside reactions to a novel officer-involved shooting, we unpack the processes by which racial divisions emerge. Even in a controlled information environment, white Americans preferred information that supported claims of a justified shooting. Conversely, Black Americans preferred information that implied that the officer behaved inappropriately. These differences stemmed from two distinct processes: we find some evidence for a form of race-based motivated reasoning and strong evidence for belief updating based on racially distinct priors. Differences in summary judgments were larger when individuals identified strongly with their racial group or when expectations about the typical behaviors of Black Americans and police diverged. The findings elucidate processes whereby individuals in different social groups come to accept differing narratives about contentious events.
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U2 - 10.1017/S1537592720003618
DO - 10.1017/S1537592720003618
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85097363740
SN - 1537-5927
VL - 19
SP - 1165
EP - 1183
JO - Perspectives on Politics
JF - Perspectives on Politics
IS - 4
ER -