Whose Pain Matters? Racial Differences in Perceptions of Emotional Pain After Fatal Police Shootings

Introduction

This article examines how racial bias shapes perceptions of grief after fatal police shootings. The authors ask whether people in the United States perceive the families of Black victims as experiencing different levels of emotional pain than families of white victims, and how these perceptions affect support for police accountability. The paper builds on research showing that Black people are often viewed as feeling less physical and social pain, and the authors wanted to see if this same bias extended to emotional pain when families lose a loved one to police violence.

Rather than focusing on overt discrimination, the article highlights how perceptions of loss and suffering can influence public responses to police violence. The authors argue that when the general public empathizes more with the officers’ emotional pain than with that of the victims’ families, support for police accountability may decrease. By connecting individual perceptions of emotional pain and suffering with broader societal responses, this framing illustrates how empathy gaps can shape public reactions to police violence.

At the time of publication, all three authors were affiliated with the Department of Psychology at Portland State University. Kimberly Barsamian Kahn is a Professor of Social Psychology at Portland State University. Emma E. L. Money is a research collaborator at Portland State University. Jaboa Lake was a graduate researcher at Portland State University during the study, but now works as a Senior Director at Race Forward.

Methods and Findings

The authors conducted two complementary studies:

• Study 1 presented participants with identical police shooting scenarios, changing only whether the victim was Black or white to see how it affected perceptions of family grief.
• Study 2 examined perceptions following the fatal police shooting of Jason Washington, a Black man, by Portland State University campus officers, using data from 613 campus community members.

The findings from Study 1 contradicted expectations based on prior research on physical (bodily injury or harm) and social pain (the emotional distress that follows rejection or exclusion), which has shown that Black people are often perceived as feeling less pain than white people. In this study, however, Black families, mothers, and communities were perceived as experiencing significantly more emotional pain (the distress felt from grief or loss) than their white counterparts. In general, participants expected Black communities to have more difficulty healing from the trauma while believing that Black mothers and families would recover just as well as white families.

Study 2 explored how participants’ race and beliefs about social hierarchies influenced their perceptions. It found that white participants were more likely than participants of color to be concerned about the emotional pain experienced by police officers and believed officers needed more support. Additionally, the study showed that people who endorse social hierarchies—meaning they believe society should have clear ranks or unequal status among groups—tended to focus more on officers’ feelings than on the feelings of victims’ families and communities. This focus was linked with greater support for officers’ actions and less interest in holding police accountable for their behavior.

Conclusions

The paper concludes that people do recognize that Black families suffer when police kill their loved ones, but this understanding doesn’t always lead to more help or support. 

The key finding is simple: when people pay more attention to how police officers feel instead of how victims’ families feel, they are more likely to side with officers and less interested in consequences for police actions. The research shows that people who believe in social hierarchies are especially likely to focus on officers’ feelings, which makes them less supportive of holding police accountable.

The findings reveal that beliefs about social inequality affect how people respond to police violence. The bias does not operate by completely ignoring Black pain; instead, it acknowledges Black suffering while simultaneously placing more emphasis on officer trauma, which in turn protects the current carceral system. 

This research suggests that stakeholders involved in media coverage and public discourse should be careful about whose pain gets the most attention after fatal police encounters. The authors urge their readers: “It is imperative to understand this differential effect, not downplay this trauma, and provide needed help and support to Black individuals, families, and communities.”