Do appearances matter? They sure do for most of us, unfortunately all too much. Many of us judge people on superficial qualities when we encounter their appearances: if they are groomed, shaven, have a haircut, have nice clothes, have a nice car, have a nice house, have a nice job, etc.
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One of the most powerful influencers is what people wear that reflects a visibly recognized title, such as a uniform reflecting some position of authority in the way we live as a society. But the influence of the uniform isn't just about how we see the person who is wearing the uniform, but also about how they see themselves in relation to others.
A recent study published in Frontiers in Psychology did research into stereotypes and profiling and how the symbolic power and authority from police uniforms affected that. Recent years have had a lot of issues with police in North America being violent and engaging in criminal behavior themselves. Why is this happening? Could it be that police view themselves as superior in the social system?
Sukhvinder Obhi, senior author of the study, said:
"We set out to explore whether the uniform itself might have an impact, independent of all other aspects of the police subculture, training or work experiences."
Clothing signals much about a person's identity, like their socio economic status, religion, and occupation. Simply by wearing the uniform that resembles a policeman, this automatically affects how others are perceived. There is a bias through an evaluation that places others in a lower social status than the one wearing the uniform. The police uniform symbolizes power and authority.
Experiment was devised to have participants identify a simple shape on a computer screen while being distracted by other images. Researchers tracked participants reaction times to determine how long they were distracted by different images, such as white male faces, blackmail faces and individuals dressed in suits while others wore hoodies.
There was no evidence of racial profiling when the distractions were of white or black faces, which surprised the current researchers as previous studies revealed how many people in the United States associate African-Americans with crime.
Slower reaction times were present for photos of individuals wearing hoodies, indicating that these were attention grabbing distractors. But the interesting thing is that this bias towards those who wore hoodies was only present in participants that were wearing police style uniforms.
"We know that clothing conveys meaning and that the hoodie has to some extent become a symbol of lower social standing and inner-city youth."
Wearing a police uniform has power-inducing effects coupled with associating the uniform with increased threat vigilance which is a critical part of police culture. This seems to bias people towards stimulus that is perceived to represent a danger and threat.
What we pay attention to effects what we understand about the world and how we think about it, forming part of our worldview. Biases don't only affect how we view others, but also how we view ourselves.
Just by wearing something different there is a psychological effect upon how we view ourselves. Those who wear uniforms like the police that assume positions of power and authority, see themselves as at risk of threats that can come at any time, especially from others who stereotypically look like they might pose a threat. Those in this mindset can unconsciously perceive a threat when one doesn't exist.
They are also more stressed and tense in anticipation of a threat against them by default of wearing different clothing. This primes many of them for reactive responses to perceived threats that can tend to be more aggressive and violent as a result.
References:
- Status profiling: Research suggests simply wearing a police uniform changes the way the brain processes information
- Ciro Civile, Sukhvinder S. Obhi. Students Wearing Police Uniforms Exhibit Biased Attention toward Individuals Wearing Hoodies. Frontiers in Psychology, 2017; 8 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00062
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@krnel
2017-02-12, 10am
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I agree with your post, this time most people tend to look at the outward appearance, but did not know more about these figures. case: there is someone who is experiencing a mental disorder and was treated at a mental hospital, then run away from the hospital. because he suffered a mental disorder classified as psychotic mental disorders (delusions of grandeur) he always wore a uniform doctor. when we look more closely, we would assume that he was a doctor, it was just a mental patient who escaped from a hospital with doctor uniform
This is true. I hadn't really given it much thought, but reflecting back wearing a uniform makes you feel different. I remember when I was in Vietnam, there was a feeling of invincibility almost when putting on tiger stripes and going into the bush. It made you feel "bad-ass" somehow. The same dynamic is true in other situations as well. There's a feeling you get when putting on a tuxedo, for example. You can be dead broke, but in a tux you feel rich and superior.
but differ with me, I feel that if it is not the position. but when it is already in position, I do not feel anything. I used to be so impressive when seeing a doctor, and I really liked it, I felt ... being a doctor was a very proud profession, but after I became a doctor, I feel differently than before. which became the pride is just as able to provide services to the needy.
Yeah, appearances affect us greatly. It very interesting how nothing really changes about who we are, except some garb... and poof like a magic spell we cast on ourselves we induce emotional experience. LOL.
I have noticed one thing, however, as far as the police are concerned. The effect seems to be more profound among younger policemen than the "old-school" guys. Maybe it's the differences in the uniform. The older guys seemed more human (and humane) lol
Now that you mention it, it is like that a bit, I think they were raised with respect for the uniform, whereas now we have the spoiled brats, who never had a good father who to uphold value to, they are missing those instilled values and those reasons to protect, they rather just serve whatever they please, actually to serve and protect is a great maxim, if only it was upheld properly.
If everything was balanced, cops would be a great addition to a stable society, there even were times when cops were "the last line of defence" and moderated communities in tough times.
In my mind that is what force should serve, to bring in a sense of security and trust. Not to bring in fear and a concrete rule of a "party", people should be able to govern themselves. And in a way that works for everybody.
And it used to be like that. There were always the occasional hard case, but for the most part they were pretty regular guys that had a job to do. Now it seems that they all have a gestapo mentality.
Times change and with them the narratives that people hold and portray.
It used to be people were free and had the responsibility in their hands, it has changed during the past 100 years in most places towards: The state can say what is ok, what business is winning, what market is growing.
Nowadays, people are viewed as terrorists, if they don't openly allow others to go through their shit.
And unless we continue doing the same shitty "job" we won't make it out of the stuck up "economy", debt is piling up on everyone, less people are wondering why and more continue to push narratives.
We don't need more jobs and more order(bureaucracy), I would argue we need more freedom and peace, to stop doing shit we don't need and to start going where we want to be. If only more people stopped to think we might even find solutions :D.
That's a really good point and accurate. I had a young cop pull me over to tell me my brake light was out- with his gun drawn! I asked a friend who's an older cop and he told me that's how they train them now...it's the us vs. them mentality that they instill.
IMHO many , not all, but many do indeed view themselves as superior over the everyday citizen. In general their attitudes suck although this does vary greatly from department to department depending upon their culture. When I get an unjustified attitude from a public servant, badge or not, I call them out on it just so their crystal clear that their superiority complex is ill founded.
I'm a big believer that the very sort of folks that would be best suited for police work are repelled at the notion of such a profession and the very people most poorly suited for the job are ATTRACTED to the profession- and then we se departments denying officer candidates the job because their test score was too high? And we wonder why there are so many LEOs out there with 'other than friendly' attitudes?
Here's what needs to happen to improve the overall situation- Stop allowing police to police themselves- every community should have a citizen populated police oversight board whom the Chief Of Police answers to and can be terminated by. This oversight board would also investigate alleged police misconduct cases and determine the appropriate course of action include termination and referral to the DA for criminal prosecution. The notion that police can effectively oversee themselves is absurd- why that is the typical way in which 'police oversight' is conducted today is beyond me.
LOL, so true. It's idiotic and absurd to investigate yourself and claim to be unbiased at the same time when you have a code protects everyone in blue. The ones who do IA are looked down upon, and few want to report misconduct. People need to police themselves in communities by learning morality and engaging in the effortful freedom of personal responsibility to be eternally vigilant for our own safety and not abdicate it to someone else. Thanks for the feedback ;)
Hey if they are really smart and want to get into the system, maybe they can play it dumb for a few years and then just own everything :D. Anyways that is how it goes in most of the world, as @thelightreports said, the people suited for the job are repelled by the others there hogging all the "authority".
The days of the local sheriff upholding the law for everybody are long past, nowadays politics are into law enforcement as much as it was in the medieval times, so serving the people is as stupid as not taking taxes and disobeying the count.
Good police officers are being flung all the trash since they can take it, if they can't great, power gets distributed towards less people, so the "rulers" rule more :D and having people that won't ask question and believe whatever you "spell" at them are a good addition to any ruling class.
Great Read, Having know many people who wear official uniform and many walks of life i have learnt that just because they look official dont mean they are anymore.. With some of the news stories going around at the moment its hard what to believe or which official to trust . At the end of the day its who's in the uniform that counts and being Human we are as a species unpredictable.
Maybe someone should run the experiment, just change the uniform and shift the perceptions of the communities.
Maybe some little town can get a boost in community value, imagine if police officers were portrayed as civil servants, rather than evil corrupt pigs, draining rights and freedoms as well as living off taxes, imagine if they were the "state workforce" and would, clean up the streets and help people in need, like they should.
White uniforms, clean parks, maybe they can help organise communities :D, going door by door, getting people to dance, such a crazy world lives in my head apparently. :D
You were right, a great way to show how things can be improved astronomically.
I for one always walked where there are no cars, never was one to walk on the line and stay in my place until the light blinks.
It's great to see how much simpler and better things can work if you take out the "middle-man", it's a much better solution to the usual govern-cement way of taking care of things, bigger roads, less space, more buttons, more lights. Totally redundant as it seems.
And I've always found the added advertisements and traffic-lights as a complete wreck of the scenery. A way to place useless clutter and think it helps.
Thanks for sharing, btw d you mind if I use this material for a post. Seems like today cars are in the news :D, at least on Steemit.
3:41
Quantic - Time Is The Enemy
Cheers! from me
No worries, I'm still behind with the article. Saw the video but I went to watch a docu-movie. Definitely worth the watch. And I'm on it now :)!
So true @krnel
Its interesting were we get these ideas in the first place perhaps the media, upped.
This was a very interesting read. Imagine what happens when the uniform changes from the standard police look to a more tactical/military style complete with assault rifles and MRAP? I wrote on arrest related deaths for my Master's thesis and I'm expanding that work now. Follow me, I'll be posting on this topic in the next couple days and I'd like to know what you think.