How Do Individuals Interact with the Police? Validation of a Scale of Motivational Postures toward the Police in Spanish

Abstract

This article addressed the critical issue of citizens’ attitudes toward law enforcement, focusing on motivational postures toward the police (i.e., the psychological dispositions that individuals maintain toward the police). The study contributes by providing the first validated motivational postures scale toward the police in Spanish. It responds to a gap in research on motivational postures within Spanish-speaking societies and the absence of properly validated scales in both English and Spanish. Using two independent online panel samples from Chile, exploratory (Study 1, n = 1,163) and confirmatory (Study 2, n = 770) factor analyses were conducted refining a scale that initially proposed five postures (commitment, capitulation, resistance, disengagement, game-playing). Surprisingly, a sixth posture, termed avoidance, emerged in Study 1, reflecting a physical–behavioral dimension of distancing from the police. The scale with dimensions of six motivational postures was validated with satisfactory results, evidenced by favorable fit indices and factor loadings. Concurrently validated, the scale exhibited correlations with positive and negative emotions toward the police, procedural justice, legitimacy, and identification with the police. However, divergent validation results were unexpected, revealing correlations between trait aggressiveness and motivational postures, possibly influenced by the context of heightened police repression. Given the relevance of citizen– police dynamics in democratic societies, this research offers insights crucial for reducing conflict and violence between citizens and the police. Future studies are encouraged to explore the contextual relevance of the avoidance dimension, replicate divergent validity analyses using alternative variables, and validate the scale in other Spanish-speaking contexts.