Replication Data for Race, Crime, and Emotions

Experimental research on racial attitudes examines how Whites’ stereotypes of Black Americans shape their attitudes about the death penalty, violent crime, and other punitive measures. Marginally discussed in the race-to-crime literature are Blacks’ perceptions of retribution and justice. We fill this void by using an original survey experiment of 900 Black Americans to examine how exposure to intra-and-intergroup violent crime shapes their policy attitudes and emotional reactions to crime. We find that Blacks are more likely to support increased prison sentences for violent crimes when the perpetrator is White and the victim is Black, and reduced sentences for “Black-on-Black” crime. Our analyses further reveal that Black people express higher levels of anger when the victim is Black and the perpetrator is White; levels of shame and anger also increase in instances of Black-on-Black crime. Given current race relations in America, we conclude by speculating about how these emotional reactions might shape one’s willingness to participate in the political arena.

种族态度领域的实验研究多聚焦于美国白人对非裔美国人的刻板印象，如何影响白人自身对死刑、暴力犯罪及其他惩罚性措施的态度。但在种族与犯罪研究的既有文献中，非裔美国人对报应与正义的认知却极少被系统探讨。本研究通过一项针对900名美国非裔的原创性调查实验，探究个体接触群体内与群体间暴力犯罪场景后，其刑事政策态度与犯罪相关情绪反应的变化，以此填补上述研究空白。研究结果显示，当暴力犯罪的作案者为白人、受害者为非裔时，非裔受访者更倾向于支持对罪犯加重监禁刑期；而当涉及非裔间作案（Black-on-Black）这类犯罪时，他们则更支持从轻量刑。进一步的分析还表明，当受害者为非裔、作案者为白人时，非裔受访者的愤怒情绪会显著增强；而在非裔间作案的场景中，他们的羞耻感与愤怒程度同样会有所提升。结合当前美国的种族关系现状，本研究最后探讨了这些情绪反应可能会如何影响个体参与政治活动的意愿。