NCJ Number
74811
Date Published
1980
Length
64 pages
Annotation
Reactions to various styles of police dress -- a traditional uniform, a traditional uniform minus side arms, and civilian dress -- were measured using heart rate, skin conductance records, and participant ratings.
Abstract
Eighteen black and 18 white male undergraduates viewed three color slides of the various dress styles. Skin response was measured using a skin resistance amplifier. Heart rate was measured by EKG during a first viewing of the slides. During a second viewing, participants completed the Semantic Differential Scale (SDS). There was no difference in heart rate in viewings of the different dress modes. There was also no difference in the heart rates of participants of different races in viewing the different dress styles. The skin responses of participants of neither race were affected by viewing any of the various styles of dress. Although blacks tended to view police officers somewhat more negatively than whites as measured by SDS scores, no significant differences in the ratings of the two groups were found. Police dress mode did not affect SDS responses. An analysis of race and dress mode interaction also produced no significant results. Stereotypes of police seem not to lie in the types of uniforms which they wear, but are probably based on perceptions of the behavior of police officers. Adoption of a civilian style of dress is therefore not justifiable because of the costs involved and because police officers must be distinctively dressed so that they can be recognized by the populace. The background (nonmetropolitan middle class with undetermined prior police contact) and sex of the study participants may have affected their perceptions of the dress styles. Footnotes, reference notes, 65 references, tables, figures, tape-recorded instructions for participants, participant instructions and semantic differential scales, and a debriefing statement are included.