Based on the Elaborated Social Identity Model of Crowd Behaviour, we tested in two experiments whether a forceful display of police power increases perceptions of illegitimacy of the police and the formation of resistance among protestors. In the high power condition, the police were dressed in riot gear (with helmets, armed with shields and batons). In the low power condition, the police were dressed in regular uniforms. In both studies, people participated in a demonstration against right‐wing populism using a virtual reality setting and were either stopped by the police in riot gear or by the police in regular uniforms. The results of Study 1 (N = 155) show that the police in riot gear were evaluated as more illegitimate compared to the police in normal clothing. The results of Study 2 (N = 97) replicated this finding and illustrated that police in riot gear (compared to regular uniforms) increased protestors' intentions to engage in direct resistance against the police. This effect was mediated by perceptions of illegitimacy and anger directed at the police. Furthermore, weakly identified protestors were particularly affected by the display of power and were more likely to engage in anti‐police resistance and collective action. Implications are discussed.

中文翻译：

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使用虚拟现实实验在反对右翼民粹主义的示威活动中明显的警察权力对抗议者抵抗的影响


基于人群行为的精心设计的社会身份模型，我们在两个实验中测试了武力展示警察权力是否会增加对警察非法身份的看法以及抗议者之间形成抵抗。在高功率情况下，警察穿着防暴装备（戴头盔，手持盾牌和警棍）。在低功率条件下，警察穿着普通制服。在这两项研究中，人们使用虚拟现实环境参加了反对右翼民粹主义的示威活动，要么被穿着防暴装备的警察拦下，要么被穿着普通制服的警察拦下。研究 1 （N = 155） 的结果显示，与穿着正常服装的警察相比，穿着防暴装备的警察被评估为更不合法。研究 2 的结果 （N = 97） 重复了这一发现，并表明穿着防暴装备的警察（与普通制服相比）增加了抗议者直接抵抗警察的意图。这种影响是由对私生子的看法和对警察的愤怒所中介的。此外，身份不明的抗议者特别容易受到权力展示的影响，并且更有可能参与反警察抵抗和集体行动。讨论了影响。