Psychology of Violence, Vol 14(5), Sep 2024, 302-314; doi:10.1037/vio0000494
Objective: Outgroup empathy deficit research suggests that White U.S. citizens—especially those most prone to prejudice—should report minimal empathy for Black victims of police violence. We propose that this oft-cited phenomena is not inevitable, and the police-related experiences of those White individuals must be considered. To address this issue, we considered empathy toward a Black versus White woman victim of a fatal police shooting. We were particularly interested in identifying factors that might eliminate outgroup empathy deficits. Method: Two hundred and thirty White MTurk participants completed a right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) measure and reported the extent that they experienced police mistreatment. They were randomly assigned to read about a deadly White policeman shooting of a Black or White woman and reported the extent they believed Black people experienced unfair police mistreatment, their victim-directed empathy, and their compassion for her family. Results: There was clear evidence of inclusive victimhood consciousness (i.e., acknowledging that one’s personal experiences are like those of an outgroup). Specifically, in the Black (but not White) victim condition, greater perceived personal police mistreatment predicted elevated perceived police mistreatment of Black individuals, which in turn was linked to heightened victim-directed empathy and family-directed compassion. Critically important, these effects were limited to high RWA participants. The Victim Race × Personal Police Mistreatment interaction was not significant for low RWA participants. Conclusions: In sum, among highly authoritarian White participants, police mistreatment experiences were positively associated with empathy for a Black woman victim of a deadly police shooting and compassion for her family. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)