Fairness key to police officers gaining civilian’s respect

Nobody enjoys being stopped by the police. But civilians who believe the officer interacting with them is attempting to behave fairly are more likely to perceive the officer's authority as legitimate and cooperate, even if the encounter still results in a citation, suggests a new study coauthored by Yale political scientist Gregory Huber. The study, recently published Advances , provides the first evidence that visible efforts by authorities to treat people fairly, regardless of whether they result in punishment - or even when an enforcement decisions is based on a mistake - make people intrinsically more motivated to cooperate and comply with the law. " Imagine being pulled over for coasting through a stop sign when you're certain that you stopped," said Huber, the Forst Family Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. "Our findings suggest that if the police officer explains her decision and behaves in a visibly fair manner, then people are more likely to perceive the officer's actions as legitimate even if the officer is mistaken." An authority's effort to engage in a fairer procedure, even when it doesn't pay off, generates greater citizen compliance or cooperation Gregory Huber Identifying how an individual's perceptions of legitimacy influence their intrinsic, or natural, motivation to comply with authority is challenging because the actions of authority figures, such as police officers, typically also affect people's extrinsic, or material, motivations, the researchers explained.