Hong Kong University Students’ Normative Beliefs about Aggression toward Police during Social Protests 2019–2020: The Role of Ecological Risks and Future Orientation

Abstract

We examined the association between normative beliefs about aggression toward police (NBAGG→P) and participation in social protests during 2019–2020 and use of aggression among 1,025 Hong Kong university students. We also investigated the role of ecological risks (i.e., distrust in institutions, exposure to community violence, poor family monitoring, poor university discipline and affiliation with delinquent peers) and future orientation in NBAGG→P. The results showed that NBAGG→P was related to more participation in social protests and use of aggression. Ecological risks (except for poor family monitoring) and a positive future orientation were related to more and less NBAGG→P, respectively. Moreover, the “distrust in institutions and NBAGG→P” link was stronger for students with more, rather than less, positive future orientation.

Political distrust, perceived threat, and intentions to engage in normative and violent collective action: A mixed‐methods study

“…Few participants specifically mentioned distrust as a motivating factor for action, although many mentioned distrust, for example, concerning the Hong Kong political system, police impunity and repressive responses to past protests, and judicial complicity in suppressing protest. These findings are consistent with the proposal that low political trust plays a role in political attitudes (O'loughlin & Tuathail, 2009), and that violent protest is more likely to be endorsed when the legitimacy of police actions is questioned (Li & Finkenauer, 2021; Saavedra & Drury, 2019). However, our data do not support the statement that low political trust is built on long‐held perceptions (Levi & Stoker, 2000); in the present data, distrust is focused specifically on police and the political actions at the current time.…”

“…This dynamic combination of distrust, high threat, and perceived risks met with increased aggressive police responses may be at play in the Hong Kong context, fuelling the social unrest observed during the study period. Indeed, scholars have highlighted the importance of high salience of perceived threat from mainland Chinese and increased distrust of police in driving normative and violent pro‐democracy collective actions in the city (e.g., Chan et al., 2021; Li & Finkenauer, 2021; see also Cheung et al., 2017).…”

“…The protests and changing collective action type from normative to violent collective action have been associated with a range of factors. These include increased tensions between Hong Kong residents and mainland Chinese, and declining trust in the Hong Kong government (But, 2013; Li & Finkenauer, 2021; The University of Hong Kong, 2017). The perceived symbolic threat posed by mainland Chinese influence on Hong Kong identity (also described as “mainlandisation”; Chan et al., 2021) alongside political distrust may be underpinning growing support for independence (Kwan et al., 2016; Lam & Cheung, 2016).…”

“…Conversely, Corcoran and colleagues (2011) found that individuals with higher levels of trust in others (as opposed to political trust) were less likely to participate in collective action (see also Bekmagambetov et al., 2018). Some studies have found that distrust in institutions is associated with increased political protest by young people (Burean & Badescu, 2014) as well as increased acceptance of aggression towards the police (Li & Finkenauer, 2021).…”

Letter to the editor: Backdrop context of the study “Intention to vaccinate young children against COVID-19: a large-scale survey of Hong Kong parents”

“… 2 , 3 In Hong Kong, the social unrest in 2019 has led to a low level of trust in the government among the general population. 4 As the pandemic persists and negatively influences the economic, the trust in the government has also gradually declined. The lack of trust in government may have led to greater vaccine hesitancy among Hong Kong parents and make it challenging for the government to encourage children’s uptake of COVID-19 vaccines in Hong Kong.…”