Social order and social justice: Moral intuitions, systemic racism beliefs, and Americans’ divergent attitudes toward Black Lives Matter and police

We examine the influence of moral intuitions on Americans’ divergent attitudes toward Black Lives Matter (BLM) and police. Drawing on Moral Foundations Theory, we hypothesize that individualizing moral intuitions that put care and protection of the vulnerable at the center of moral concern (a social justice orientation) lead people to express positive feelings toward BLM and negative feelings toward police, whereas binding moral intuitions that put social stability at the center of moral concern (a social order orientation) lead people to express positive feelings toward police and negative feelings toward BLM. We find strong support for these hypotheses using data from a 2021 YouGov survey of 1,125 U.S. adults including a 100 percent oversample of Black respondents. We also find that belief in systemic racism as a cause of police use of excessive force mediates much of the effects of the moral intuitions measures, except for the association between binding moral intuitions and positive feelings toward police, which is largely direct. Our results provide compelling evidence that moral intuitions play an important role in explaining American's divergent attitudes toward BLM and police.

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: [Social order and social justice: Moral intuitions, systemic racism beliefs, and Americans’ divergent attitudes toward Black Lives Matter and police. Criminology 60, 2 p342-369 (2022)], which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12303. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions: https://authorservices.wiley.com/author-resources/Journal-Authors/licensing/self-archiving.html#3.

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Work Title Social order and social justice: Moral intuitions, systemic racism beliefs, and Americans’ divergent attitudes toward Black Lives Matter and police
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Eric Silver
  2. Kerby Goff
  3. John D Iceland
Keyword
  1. Black Lives Matter
  2. Moral Foundations Theory
  3. Police
  4. Public opinion
  5. Racial resentment
  6. Systemic racism
License In Copyright (Rights Reserved)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. Criminology
Publication Date February 15, 2022
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12303
Deposited January 30, 2023

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Version 1
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  • Created
  • Added Silver_Goff_Iceland_2022_Social_order_and_social_justice-_Moral_intuitions__systemic_racism_beliefs__and_Americans__divergent_attitudes_toward_Black_Lives_Matter_and_police.pdf
  • Added Creator Eric Silver
  • Added Creator Kerby Goff
  • Added Creator E Silver
  • Added Creator John D Iceland
  • Published
  • Updated Keyword, Publication Date Show Changes
    Keyword
    • Black Lives Matter, Moral Foundations Theory, Police, Public opinion, Racial resentment, Systemic racism
    Publication Date
    • 2022-01-01
    • 2022-02-15
  • Deleted Creator E Silver
  • Updated Creator John D Iceland
  • Updated