Physical Effort of Police Officers as a Determinant of Their Behavior Toward Criminals

• NCJ Number: 174536
• Journal: Journal of Social Psychology Volume: 136 Issue: 4 Dated: August 1996 Pages: 461-468
• Author(s): A Vrij; L Dingemans
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 8 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article examines the influence of police officers' physical effort on their perceptions of criminals and on shooting behavior during confrontations with criminals.

Abstract

Police officers expend more physical effort when they rush to the scene of a crime than when they arrive quietly. Two experiments involving 40 police patrols tested the following hypotheses: (1) The criminal will seem less aggressive in the physical-effort condition; (2) The police officers will feel less aggressive in the physical-effort condition; and (3) Fewer police officers will shoot at the criminal in the physical-effort condition. The experiments supported all three hypotheses. Physical effort led to an underestimation of danger and decreased the police officers' aggression. The experiments did not address the topic of the effects of physical effort on perceptions and behavior when the resultant state of arousal has nearly subsided. References