BIO

Madeleine Stults is a fourth year psychology student at FSU in Dr. March's social psychology lab. They began their research at the March Lab working on studies regarding police violence and threat perception, and later worked with the Anxiety and Behavioral Health Clinic as a research assistant investigating anxiety sensitivity. Maddie has also worked with the American Psychological Association as a SUPER Fellow to partake in independent research regarding police violence and its psychological consequences. She is now completing her honors thesis on vicarious threat conditioning and police violence with the March Lab, and hopes to work as a clinical psychology post-baccalaureate researcher for a year before attending either a Masters in Social Work program or Clinical Psychology Doctoral program.

Vicarious Threat Conditioning of Police-Threat Associations: Implications for Behavior and Trust in the Police

Abstract

The study outlines a methodology involving university participants exposed to real-life police-civilian encounter videos. Assessments encompass implicit and explicit police-threat associations, trust in police, behavioral intentions, and past experiences with police. Results anticipate participants exposed to police violence exhibiting stronger implicit police-threat associations and greater aversion towards police, affecting behaviors like willingness to call the police and perceived obligation to obey.

By elucidating vicarious fear conditioning's role in shaping attitudes towards law enforcement, this research contributes to understanding societal perceptions of police and informs interventions to mitigate negative associations. It underscores the need for comprehensive strategies addressing public trust and police-community relations in contemporary discourse on law enforcement

Keywords: psychology, police, violence, threat, social, video