Glass Half-Full or Half-Empty? Perceived Discrimination, Police (Il)legitimacy, and Pathways to Police Avoidance

This study examines how perceived police discrimination and acculturation are associated with police avoidance through perceived police illegitimacy. Prior research shows that unfair treatment by police can undermine legitimacy, while work on immigrant incorporation suggests that nativity and acculturation may shape how people interpret legal authority. Yet these literatures are rarely examined together in ways that explain behavioral withdrawal from police contact across racial and nativity groups. Using nationally representative data from the 2020 Collaborative Multiracial Postelection Survey ( N = 15,552), weighted mediation models are estimated in which acculturation and perceived police discrimination predict perceived police illegitimacy, which in turn predicts police avoidance. Additional analyses examine whether these relationships vary across nativity groups, racial groups, and race × nativity subgroups. Across models, perceived police discrimination is the strongest predictor of perceived police illegitimacy, and perceived police illegitimacy consistently predicts greater police avoidance. Illegitimacy significantly mediates the relationship between discrimination and avoidance across most groups. By contrast, acculturation exhibits comparatively small and inconsistent direct and indirect effects. These findings suggest that police avoidance is shaped less by acculturation alone than by perceived unfair treatment and diminished legitimacy. The study contributes to policing research by highlighting avoidance as a meaningful behavioral outcome and by clarifying how discrimination, legitimacy, and acculturation intersect across racial and nativity contexts.