Table 2 Features of experiment 1’s naturalistic study design

Nonstandard Participant Sample

Yes

Recruiting a sample that included both students and non-students ensures participants’ reactions are more broadly representative of the naturalistic response when being approached by an officer outside the context of a study

We recruited participants using diverse channels that would yield both student and non-student participants including pedestrians from streets nearby, Craig’s list ads, emails throughout departments to the local university, and word of mouth

Blinding of Participants to Being in a Study

No

Needed to consent participants to be able to collect intrusive measures (i.e., participant language and psychophysiological responses) that would not otherwise be possible to collect in a natural field experiment

Before beginning the study, participants provided informed consent and were equipped with wearable Empatica E4 devices and a research assistant initiated an audio recording on an iPad

Blinding of Participants to Study Manipulation

Yes

Utilizing a cover story high in mundane realism to offset the fact that participants were aware that they were in a study

Participants were not told they would be approached by a police officer as part of the study, but that we were to behave naturally as they would when interacting with others

Realism

Yes

Creating a situation that involves participants’ attention will lead participants to react as they would when approached by a law enforcement officer outside the context of a study

On-duty law enforcement officers unexpectedly approached participants in the way that they would when engaging in community policing interactions in their day-to-day work

Naturalistic Setting

Yes

Conducting the study in locations outside of the lab and in the field to ensure participants react as they would when approached by an officer outside the context of a study

Study locations were selected based on areas where interactions with law enforcement occur, alongside community member and officer focus groups

Realistic Stakes

Yes

Creating a situation where the consequences of participants’ behavior extend beyond the confines of the study ensures participants react as they would when approached by an officer outside the context of a study

Interacting with on-duty law enforcement officers who were instructed by their direct supervisor to carry out the responsibilities of their job and, if at any time, they had reasonable suspicion of a crime, to engage in law enforcement action

Behavioral Consequentiality

Yes

Measuring linguistic and psychophysiological behaviors ensure the intervention has hypothesized effects in a realistic setting, outside of the context of a study

Text analysis of participants’ natural language in the interaction reveals subtle nonconscious psychological processes (Pennebaker et al., 2003); psychophysiological behavior captures in-the-moment cognitive appraisals of threatening situations (Blascovich & Tomaka⁴³)