Testing the Effects of Procedural Justice and Overaccommodation in Traffic Stops

• Author: Edward R. Maguire,Belén V. Lowrey,Richard R. Bennett
• Published date: 01 October 2016
• Date: 01 October 2016
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0093854816639330
• Subject Matter: Articles

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, 2016, Vol. 43, No. 10, October 2016, 1430 –1449.

DOI: 10.1177/0093854816639330

© 2016 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology

1430

TESTING THE EFFECTS OF PROCEDURAL

JUSTICE AND OVERACCOMMODATION IN

TRAFFIC STOPS

A Randomized Experiment

BELÉN V. LOWREY

EDWARD R. MAGUIRE

RICHARD R. BENNETT

American University

Research shows that perceptions of procedural justice influence people’s trust, confidence, and obligation to obey law and

legal authorities as well as their willingness to cooperate with and support legal authorities. Interpersonal interaction styles

that are central to procedural justice theory also play a key role in communication accommodation theory (CAT). Based on

video clips depicting a police traffic stop, we use a randomized experiment to test the effects of procedural justice and over-

accommodation on trust in police, willingness to cooperate with police, and obligation to obey police and the law. The results

demonstrate that procedural justice has more powerful effects than overaccommodation on reported trust and confidence in

the officer, as well as respondents’ obligation to obey and willingness to cooperate with the officer. Moreover, although

procedural justice generated strong effects on encounter-specific attitudes, it did not exert any effect on more general attitudes

toward police.

Keywords: procedural justice; communication accommodation; linguistics; police; randomized experiment

When people think of police work, they typically imagine high-speed chases, crime-

scene investigations, and physical confrontations with suspects. However, a substan-

tial portion of police work involves simply communicating with the public (Giles et al.,

2006). Indeed, some scholars argue that verbal communication is the core technology of

policing (Sklansky, 2011), and a central theme of the research on procedural justice and

legitimacy in policing is that how police officers talk to people matters (Tyler, 2006; Tyler &

Huo, 2002). The interpersonal interaction styles that play such a key role in procedural

AUTHORS’ NOTE: The authors would like to thank Erin M. Kearns and Kathryn Kozey for their assistance

in recruiting participants as well as the undergraduate students at American University who participated in this

study. The authors also thank Thomas Baker for his comments on an earlier draft of this article and the

anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions. Correspondence concerning this article should be

addressed to Belén V. Lowrey, Department of Justice, Law and Criminology, American University, 4400

Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20016; e-mail: belen.lowrey@american.edu.

639330CJBXXX10.1177/0093854816639330Criminal Justice and BehaviorLowrey et al. / PROCEDURAL JUSTICE AND OVERACCOMMODATION

research-article2016

Lowrey et al. / PROCEDURAL JUSTICE AND OVERACCOMMODATION 1431

justice theory are also an important part of communication accommodation theory (CAT)

from the field of linguistics. The two theories have similar implications for thinking about

how police officers as authority figures talk to people who are subject to their authority.

Research suggests, for instance, that people’s perceptions of procedural justice during inter-

actions with police have a powerful influence on trust and confidence in the police, perceived

obligation to obey the police (and the law more generally), and willingness to cooperate with

the police (Tyler, 2006; Tyler & Huo, 2002). Similarly, a separate body of research from CAT

shows that the use of accommodative communication styles by police officers improves citi-

zen trust and satisfaction and has an indirect effect on compliance (Giles et al., 2006; Giles,

Hajek, et al., 2007; Giles, Willemyns, Gallois, & Anderson, 2007). This study uses a random-

ized experiment to test hypotheses derived from procedural justice theory and CAT.

Whereas procedural justice theory is now well known within criminology and criminal

justice, CAT is still largely unknown. Much of the CAT literature, including the small subset

that has been applied to policing, has been published in communications and linguistics

journals. The theory, developed originally by Giles (1973), posits that individuals subcon-

sciously modify characteristics of their speech (such as accent, rate of speech, and polite

language) to match those of people with whom they are conversing. These characteristics

communicate increased solidarity and a decrease in social distance. Giles, Hajek, et al.

(2007) have found that perceived police accommodation is associated with greater trust in

police and higher approval ratings. CAT shares many similarities with procedural justice

theory, which posits that perceptions of procedural justice during encounters with legal

authorities such as the police influence people’s broader perceptions of the legitimacy of

law and legal authorities. These legitimacy assessments, in turn, influence a variety of

socially meaningful outcomes such as willingness to obey the law or to comply with the

directives of legal authorities (e.g., Johnson, Maguire, & Kuhns, 2014; Tyler, 2004). Giles,

Hajek, et al. (2007) acknowledged the overlap between CAT and procedural justice theory,

both of which emphasize the positive effects that respectful communication can engender.

However, Giles and Smith (1979) have argued that although accommodation improves

rapport, the use of overly accommodative language, which is referred to as overaccommo-

dation, may actually decrease rapport. Put differently, there may be a non-linear relation-

ship between accommodation and the benefits that are thought to derive from it, such as

interpersonal trust and confidence. When faced with too much accommodation (overac-

commodation), people may come to doubt the sincerity and in some cases, the authority, of

those with whom they are conversing. Thus, although some level of accommodation during

an interpersonal interaction is thought to produce certain benefits, overaccommodation

goes too far and may be detrimental. Accordingly, this study tests the effects of procedural

justice and overaccommodation on attitudes toward police. A randomized experiment is

used to contrast the effects of three conditions—a control condition, a procedural justice

condition, and an overaccommodation condition—on participants’ trust in police, willing-

ness to cooperate with police, and obligation to obey the police and the law.

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

PROCEDURAL JUSTICE

Theory and research on procedural justice originated within the discipline of social psy-

chology (Leventhal, 1980; Thibaut & Walker, 1975; Tyler & Lind, 1992), but have diffused