Affective Responsivity to Varying Modes of Police Dress
Abstract
Responding to what was perceived as a negative image of police, law enforcement agencies in the early 1970's, began to change their traditional uniform to a 'soft-look' civilian type blazer uniform. The movement to change the uniform was based on the assumption--which had not been empirically examined--that the traditional uniform with its official insignia and other accouterments overwhelmed citizens and engendered a wide range of negative reactions and that removal of these symbols (i.e., the uniform) would result in a more positive relationship between the public and the police. The present investigation assesses the reactions of individuals to varying modes of police dress using a method that considered both physiological and cognitive components of affective responsivity. A 2 (race of participant) X 3 (style of police dress) between-within design was used. The between factor was race of the participant (i.e., black or white), and the within factor was style of police dress. Eighteen black and eighteen white male undergraduate students viewed color slides that depicted the varying styles of police dress. The results reflected that participants did not evaluate the various modes of police dress differently and that there were no racial differences in the evaluation of the various modes of police dress.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 16, 1980
- Accession Number
- ADA086770
Entities
People
- William L. Taylor