Abstract
This research aims to comprehensively illustrate the importance of perceived procedural justice among the public to police and governing authorities in crowd management involving multiple identities and identifications. It simultaneously considers the group engagement model and the elaborated model of procedural justice. We collected data from 1,000 participants in Hong Kong at the end of the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement. Public perceptions of procedural justice, identification with militant protestors, moderate protestors, police, and the government, as well as their support for protestor violence, were assessed. Full structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the data and assess a complex model of procedural justice. We found a perception of low procedural justice contributed to increased public support for protestor violence by fostering identification with militant protestors. Additionally, a perceived lack of procedural justice was associated with heightened identification with moderate protestors, while simultaneously diminishing identification with the government, with the latter effect being fully mediated by reduced identification with the police. The significance of procedural justice for governing authorities in crowd management is multifaceted and should be considered within both the group engagement model and the elaborate model of procedural justice. The outcomes derived from the complex model of procedural justice provide insights for shaping comprehensive policing practices.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The research data used to generate the findings can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/VQNDBA.
References
Au, A. (2017). Collective identity, organization, and public reaction in protests: A qualitative case study of Hong Kong and Taiwan. Social Sciences, 6(4), 150–167. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci6040150.
Blader, S. L., & Tyler, T. R. (2009). Testing and extending the group engagement model: Linkages between social identity, procedural justice, economic outcomes, and extrarole behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(2), 445–464. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013935.
Bolger, P. C., & Walters, G. D. (2019). The relationship between police procedural justice, police legitimacy, and people’s willingness to cooperate with law enforcement: A meta-analysis. Journal of Criminal Justice, 60, 93–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2019.01.001.
Bradford, B., & Quinton, P. (2014). Self-legitimacy, police culture and support for democratic policing in an English constabulary. British Journal of Criminology, 54(6), 1023–1046. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azu053.
Bryant, F. B., & Smith, B. D. (2001). Refining the architecture of aggression: A measurement model for the Buss–Perry Aggression Questionnaire. Journal of Research in Personality, 35(2), 138–167. https://doi.org/10.1006/jrpe.2000.2302.
Chan, L. S., & Chou, K. L. (2018). A survey of asset poverty among older adults of Hong Kong. Social Indicators Research, 138(2), 605–622. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-017-1674-5.
Chou, K. L., & Lee, S. Y. (2018). Superimpose material deprivation study on poverty old age people in Hong Kong study. Social Indicators Research, 139(3), 1015–1036. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-017-1740-z.
Drury, J., & Reicher, S. (1999). The intergroup dynamics of collective empowerment: Substantiating the social identity model of crowd behavior. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 2(4), 381–402. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430299024005.
Drury, J., & Reicher, S. (2000). Collective action and psychological change: The emergence of new social identities. British Journal of Social Psychology, 39(4), 579–604. https://doi.org/10.1348/014466600164642.
Drury, J., & Reicher, S. (2005). Explaining enduring empowerment: A comparative study of collective action and psychological outcomes. European Journal of Social Psychology, 35(1), 35–58. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.231.
Gerber, M. M., Carvacho, H., & González, R. (2016). Development and validation of a scale of support for violence in the context of intergroup conflict (SVIC): The case of violence perpetrated by mapuche people and the police in Chile. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 51, 61–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2016.01.004.
Gerber, M. M., González, R., Carvacho, H., Jiménez-Moya, G., Moya, C., & Jackson, J. (2018). On the justification of intergroup violence: The roles of procedural justice, police legitimacy, and group identity in attitudes toward violence among indigenous people. Psychology of Violence, 8(3), 379–389. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000177.
Independent Police Complaint Council (2020). Thematic study report on the Public Order events (POEs) arising from the fugitive offenders Bill since June 2019 and the police actions in response. https://www.ipcc.gov.hk/doc/en/report/thematic_report/Conclusion.pdf.
Lee, F. L. (2020). Solidarity in the anti-extradition bill movement in Hong Kong. Critical Asian Studies, 52(1), 18–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/14672715.2020.1700629.
Lee, F. L. F., & Chan, J. M. (2011). Media, social mobilization, and mass protests in postcolonial Hong Kong. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203835999.
Lee, F. L., Cheng, E. W., Liang, H., Tang, G. K., & Yuen, S. (2021). Dynamics of tactical radicalisation and public receptiveness in Hong Kong’s Anti-extradition Bill Movement. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 52(3). https://doi.org/10.1080/00472336.2021.1910330.
Leventhal, G. S. (1980). What should be done with equity theory? New approaches to the study of fairness in social relationships. In K. J. Gergen, M. S. Greenberg, & R. H. Willis (Eds.), Social exchange (pp. 27–55). Springer.
Maguire, E., Barak, M., Wells, W., & Katz, C. (2018). Attitudes towards the use of violence against police among occupy wall street protesters. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 14(4), 883–899. https://doi.org/10.1093/police/pay003.
Murphy, K., Madon, N. S., & Cherney, A. (2017). Promoting muslims’ cooperation with police in counter-terrorism: The interaction between procedural justice, police legitimacy and law legitimacy. Policing: An International Journal, 40(3), 543–559. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-05-2016-0069.
Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (2002). How to use a Monte Carlo study to decide on sample size and determine power. Structural Equation Modeling, 9(4), 599–620. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15328007SEM0904_8.
Radburn, M., & Stott, C. (2019). The social psychological processes of ‘procedural justice’: Concepts, critiques and opportunities. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 19(4), 421–438. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748895818780200.
Radburn, M., Stott, C., Bradford, B., & Robinson, M. (2018). When is policing fair? Groups, identity and judgements of the procedural justice of coercive crowd policing. Policing and Society, 28(6), 647–664. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2016.1234470.
Reicher, S. D. (1996). The battle of Westminster’: Developing the social identity model of crowd behaviour in order to explain the initiation and development of collective conflict. European Journal of Social Psychology, 26(1), 115–134. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-0992(199601)26:1<115::AID-EJSP740>3.0.CO;2-Z.
Reicher, S., Stott, C., Cronin, P., & Adang, O. (2004). An integrated approach to crowd psychology and public order policing. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 27(4), 558–572. https://doi.org/10.1108/13639510410566271.
Reisig, M. D., Tankebe, J., & Mesko, G. (2014). Compliance with the law in Slovenia: The role of procedural justice and police legitimacy. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, 20(2), 259–276. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10610-013-9211-9.
Saab, R., Tausch, N., Spears, R., & Cheung, W. Y. (2015). Acting in solidarity: Testing an extended dual pathway model of collective action by bystander group members. British Journal of Social Psychology, 54(3), 539–560. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12095.
Saavedra, P., & Drury, J. (2019). Beyond peaceful protest: When non-participants support violence against the police. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/rm7jg.
Stott, C., & Drury, J. (2000). Crowds, context and identity: Dynamic categorization processes in the poll tax riot. Human Relations, 53(2), 247–273. https://doi.org/10.1177/a010563.
Stott, C., Hoggett, J., & Pearson, G. (2012). Keeping the peace’ Social Identity, Procedural Justice and the policing of football crowds. The British Journal of Criminology, 52(2), 381–399. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azr076.
Stott, C., Ball, R., Drury, J., Neville, F., Reicher, S., Boardman, A., & Choudhury, S. (2018). The evolving normative dimensions of ‘riot’: Towards an elaborated social identity explanation. European Journal of Social Psychology, 48(6), 834–849. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2376.
Stott, C., Ho, L., Radburn, M., Chan, Y. T., Kyprianides, A., & Morales, P. S. (2020). Patterns of ‘disorder’ during the 2019 protests in Hong Kong: Policing, social identity, intergroup dynamics, and radicalization. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 14(4), 814–815. https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paaa073.
Sunshine, J., & Tyler, T. R. (2003). The role of procedural justice and legitimacy in shaping public support for policing. Law & Society Review, 37(3), 513–548. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-5893.3703002.
Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In W. G. Austin, & S. Worchel (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33–47). Brooks Cole.
Turner, J. C., Hogg, M. A., Oakes, P. J., Reicher, S. D., & Wetherell, M. S. (1987). Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory. Blackwell.
Turner, J. C., Oakes, P. J., Haslam, S. A., & McGarty, C. (1994). Self and collective: Cognition and social context. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20(5), 454–463. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167294205002.
Tyler, T. R., & Blader, S. L. (2003). The group engagement model: Procedural justice, social identity, and cooperative behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 7(4), 349–361. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327957PSPR0704_07.
van Zomeren, M., Spears, R., Fischer, A. H., & Leach, C. W. (2004). Put your money where your mouth is! Explaining collective action tendencies through group-based anger and group efficacy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(5), 649–664. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.87.5.649.
Vestergren, S., Drury, J., & Chiriac, E. H. (2017). The biographical consequences of protest and activism: A systematic review and a new typology. Social Movement Studies, 16(2), 203–221. https://doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2016.1252665.
Zhu, A. Y. F., Chan, A. L. S., & Chou, K. L. (2020). The pathway toward radical political participation among young people in Hong Kong: A communication mediation approach. East Asia, 37, 45–62. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12140-019-09326-6.
Funding
This study was funded by grants from Policy Innovation and Co-ordination Office Public Policy Research (PPR) Funding Scheme (Special Round), Hong Kong SAR (Project Number SR2020.A5.028, Principle Investigator: Professor Kee Lee Chou).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethical Approval
The ethical approval was obtained from the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) of The Education University of Hong Kong before the data collection.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Conflict of Interest
The author declares no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Zhu, A.Y.F., Chou, K.L. The Social Psychology of Procedural Justice: Findings in Hong Kong. Polit Behav (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-024-09938-6
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-024-09938-6