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"The Public Doesn't Understand": The Self-reinforcing Interplay of Image Discrepancies and Political Ideologies in Law Enforcement.

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Title: "The Public Doesn't Understand": The Self-reinforcing Interplay of Image Discrepancies and Political Ideologies in Law Enforcement.
Authors: Patil, Shefali V.1 (AUTHOR) shefali.patil@mccombs.utexas.edu
Source: Administrative Science Quarterly. Sep2019, Vol. 64 Issue 3, p737-769. 33p. 6 Charts, 2 Graphs.
Subject Terms: *Job performance, Ideology & society, Police psychology, Conservatism, Liberalism, Public opinion, Reinforcement (Psychology), Image
Geographic Terms: United States
Abstract: Drawing on information processing theory, I revisit prior assumptions that not being understood raises challenges for employees, examining how political ideologies powerfully affect how employees who serve the public react to a perceived lack of understanding of the difficulties of their jobs. Using independent expert ratings of 794 body camera videos of 164 police officers across two agencies, I show that a lack of perceived public understanding decreases task performance for liberal-leaning officers but not for conservative-leaning officers. Because liberal-leaning officers seek to form more communal relationships with the public, a perceived lack of public understanding violates their sense of social order, but it merely reaffirms conservative-leaning officers' beliefs in maintaining an authoritarian distance given the responsibilities and duties they shoulder. I replicate these results using supervisors' ratings of 82 officers across four agencies and then demonstrate in a time-lagged survey of 184 officers in a single agency that those with stronger conservative beliefs are more likely to believe the public fails to appreciate the difficulties of their jobs. These studies highlight the importance of accounting for people's beliefs in whether image conflicts should and do arise—and provide insights into the self-reinforcing forces that sustain divides between employees and those they serve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Administrative Science Quarterly is the property of Administrative Science Quarterly and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: "The Public Doesn't Understand": The Self-reinforcing Interplay of Image Discrepancies and Political Ideologies in Law Enforcement.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Administrative+Science+Quarterly%22">Administrative Science Quarterly</searchLink>. Sep2019, Vol. 64 Issue 3, p737-769. 33p. 6 Charts, 2 Graphs.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Job+performance%22">Job performance</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Ideology+%26+society%22">Ideology & society</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Police+psychology%22">Police psychology</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Conservatism%22">Conservatism</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Liberalism%22">Liberalism</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Public+opinion%22">Public opinion</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Reinforcement+%28Psychology%29%22">Reinforcement (Psychology)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Image%22">Image</searchLink>
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  Data: Drawing on information processing theory, I revisit prior assumptions that not being understood raises challenges for employees, examining how political ideologies powerfully affect how employees who serve the public react to a perceived lack of understanding of the difficulties of their jobs. Using independent expert ratings of 794 body camera videos of 164 police officers across two agencies, I show that a lack of perceived public understanding decreases task performance for liberal-leaning officers but not for conservative-leaning officers. Because liberal-leaning officers seek to form more communal relationships with the public, a perceived lack of public understanding violates their sense of social order, but it merely reaffirms conservative-leaning officers' beliefs in maintaining an authoritarian distance given the responsibilities and duties they shoulder. I replicate these results using supervisors' ratings of 82 officers across four agencies and then demonstrate in a time-lagged survey of 184 officers in a single agency that those with stronger conservative beliefs are more likely to believe the public fails to appreciate the difficulties of their jobs. These studies highlight the importance of accounting for people's beliefs in whether image conflicts should and do arise—and provide insights into the self-reinforcing forces that sustain divides between employees and those they serve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Administrative Science Quarterly is the property of Administrative Science Quarterly and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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      – SubjectFull: Ideology & society
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      – SubjectFull: Police psychology
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              Text: Sep2019
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