The view of the blue is bigger than black and white: using social identity theory to predict factors related to how Americans’ perceive the police

Abstract Using the social identity theory, this exploratory study looked at how mass media, race, age, gender, and politic affiliation contribute to Americans’ attitude toward the police. Findings indicate one’s social identity and identification with police play a substantial role in how people choose to view police. Additionally, increased media trust and resulted in more positive perceptions of police, and people who listened to radio news more frequently were more likely to consider police part of their in-group.