The Influence of Media Exposure on Perceptions of Police

Author

Izabella LeBlanc, Austin Peay State UniversityFollow
Emily Pica, Austin Peay State UniversityFollow

Volume

31

Number

2

Department

Dept. of Psychology

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Date

2025

Abstract

The current literature suggests that People of Color (POC) often hold more negative perceptions of law enforcement compared to White individuals. These perceptions are influenced by various factors, including environment, exposure to media depictions of police brutality, and personal experiences. Since flawed portrayals of police procedures in television programs have been found to erode public trust in police legitimacy, the study analyzes how perceptions change through media portrayals of law enforcement interactions. We investigate how the media influences perceptions of law enforcement by presenting participants (n = 245) with mock news articles depicting various law enforcement interactions. Additionally, we consider the impact of past encounters and perceptions of law enforcement, race and ethnicity, and experiences as a victim of crime. Although the mock news articles successfully influenced participant ratings of the portrayed officer and victim, the mock news articles did not significantly influence participant ratings for any measure of police perceptions. The results of the present study revealed that being victimized, consuming crime television, and being a POC were associated with significantly less favorable perceptions of police. The results suggest a need to promote interventions aimed at fostering better police and community relations, alongside recognizing the potential influence of media portrayals of law enforcement, which may serve as a barrier to positive relations.

Subject

Psychology

Keyword

media; police officers; police and the community; police legitimacy; People of Color

Discipline

Psychology

Document Type

article

DCMI Type

Text

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Recommended Citation

LeBlanc, Izabella and Pica, Emily (2025) "The Influence of Media Exposure on Perceptions of Police," Modern Psychological Studies: Vol. 31: No. 2, Article 1.
Available at: https://scholar.utc.edu/mps/vol31/iss2/1