National Identification and Public Cooperation with the Police in Ghana

Abstract

Purpose

This study examines the role of national identification in public cooperation with the police in Ghana. The first objective is to examine the antecedents of national identification and police legitimacy in Ghana, and the second objective is to examine the association between national identification and public cooperation in Ghana.

Methods

Using data from an online survey of university students (N = 482), the current study employs structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the antecedents of national identification and police legitimacy, and the association between national identification and public cooperation. Bootstrapped standard errors with bias-corrected confidence intervals is used examine the mediating effects of national identification and police legitimacy.

Results

The SEM indicates that participants who viewed the police as effective and distributively just were willing to cooperate with the police. Police procedural justice was the sole predictor of police legitimacy. Contrary to theoretical expectations regarding the status- and value-signaling function of procedural justice, participants felt valued and worthy as members of Ghanaian society when the police were effective at fighting crime and fair in allocating outcomes.

Conclusion

This study demonstrates that perceived group identification plays a role in public cooperation with police in Ghana.