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Right-Wing Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation Indirectly Predict Support for New York City’s Stop-&-Frisk Policy Through Prejudice

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Abstract

Until very recently, the New York City Police Department’s Stop, Question, and Frisk policy (i.e., Stop-&-Frisk) allowed NYPD officers to legally stop and detain New Yorkers under the suspicion that they may be involved in criminal activity. Previous research found that New Yorkers’ attitudes toward Stop-&-Frisk were generally mixed, and the current study tested whether authoritarianism, preferences for inequality, and prejudice predicted support for Stop-&-Frisk. One hundred forty-eight New York City college students reported their levels of right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), social dominance orientation (SDO), prejudice, and support for the NYPD’s Stop-&-Frisk policy. Both RWA and SDO had indirect effects through prejudice on support for Stop-&-Frisk. Limits and possible future developments of this research are discussed.

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  1. for 2003–2013

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Sheenelle Calliste, Josephine Ngo, and Dominique Toms for their assistance with data collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Long Island University – Brooklyn, 1 University Plaza, Brooklyn, NY, 11201-5372, USA

    Benjamin A. Saunders, Elspeth Kelly, Noah P. Cohen & Christopher Guarino

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  1. Benjamin A. Saunders
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  2. Elspeth Kelly
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  3. Noah P. Cohen
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  4. Christopher Guarino
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Correspondence to Benjamin A. Saunders.

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Saunders, B.A., Kelly, E., Cohen, N.P. et al. Right-Wing Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation Indirectly Predict Support for New York City’s Stop-&-Frisk Policy Through Prejudice. Curr Psychol 35, 92–98 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-015-9364-4

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