Shielded perspectives: How visual attention moderates the link between social identity and biased judgments about police

Abstract

Individuals from different social groups form divergent legal punishment decisions about police officers engaged in altercations with civilians despite viewing the same visual evidence. We review empirical and archival data in the legal domain to offer four vision‐based moderators of polarized legal judgments determined after viewing evidence with a focus on research relevant to police‐civilian altercations. We discuss how selective visual attention, flittering and staring tendencies, differences in cognitive engagement, and visual confirmation bias contribute to divergent legal decisions within and across social groups. By incorporating visual experience into models of legal decision‐making, we reconcile inconsistencies regarding the impact of social group identity on bias in police punishment.