Racial Essentialism and Stress: A Deadly Combination for Prospective Police Officers’ Encounters with Black Suspects

Abstract

Previous research based on documented incidents of police uses of lethal force and experimental studies using computer sorting programs have demonstrated that incorrect lethal force decisions tend to occur more frequently with Black relative to White suspects. Using virtual reality, the current study examined the psychophysiology underlying incorrect lethal force decision with Black suspects, and the interactive impact of racial essentialism. Forty-nine White criminal justice majors viewed 360 degree videos of high-pressure suspect interactions in VR, from the perspective of the police officer. A virtual police-issued handgun was used to make and record decisions to shoot; incorrect uses of lethal force were operationalized using signal detection theory. Physiological stress (i.e., variance in pupil dilation) and visual attention were measured with embedded eye tracking in the VR. As predicted, physiological stress led to more incorrect uses of lethal force with Black suspects through fixated visual attention, but only among those who scored high on a racial essentialism survey measure. Findings converge with more recent studies supporting the potent interactive role between cognition (e.g., racial essentialism) and affect (i.e., stress) on lethal force decisions with Black suspects. These studies point to the continued role of psychoeducation and cognitive-behavioral interventions in informing police training interventions aimed at mitigating incorrect uses of lethal force with Black men and women.

Conceptualizations of Race: Essentialism and Constructivism

“…Another study found an interaction between racial essentialism and physiological stress. Among White criminal justice majors who participated in a virtual reality simulation, increased physiological stress was associated with incorrect uses of lethal force against Black subjects depicted in the simulation-but only among participants who previously demonstrated strong essentialist beliefs (Tawa 2022).…”

“…How societies and individuals conceptualize race has crucial consequences. It underpins intergroup attitudes and belief systems, including prejudice and racism ( Jayaratne et al 2006, Keller 2005, Knowles et al 2022, Tawa 2022. It also can influence support for social policies and structures.…”

How Do Students Critically Evaluate Outdated Language That Relates to Gender in Biology?

“…Thus, failure to challenge biological essentialism potentially leads to the misuse of biology in support of harmful ideologies ( Bickford, 2024 ). Examples include the use of essentialist views to support harsher criminal justice outcomes ( Kraus and Keltner, 2013 ; Tawa, 2023 ), involuntary sterilization ( Stubblefield, 2007 ; Murray, 2022 ), and even genocide ( Keller, 2005 ). Biologists have a healthy tradition of speaking out against the misuse of biology to support essentialist viewpoints (e.g.…”