Anti-bias training and perceived force climate: Links with prejudiced attitudes in United Kingdom policing

Abstract

Anti-bias training has been viewed as the solution to prejudice in organizations, yet the evidence is mixed in real-world settings. Some point to the broader organizational climate that training takes place in as critical, and herein we investigate one aspect: communicating about bias in autonomy-supportive (i.e., non-shaming) ways. Using the 2019 National Well-Being and Inclusion Survey of United Kingdom police officers and staff (n = 34,529 in 43 forces), we tested links of participating in anti-bias training, perceived autonomy-supportive communication, and their interaction on prejudiced attitudes. Results revealed a negligible effect (R2 = 0.001) of participating in anti-bias training but a moderate effect (R2 = 0.05) of perceiving autonomy-supportive communication predicting lower prejudice. Their interaction was significant but negligible (R2 = 0.001): participating in anti-bias training predicted lower prejudice when perceiving autonomy-supportive communication; there was no link between training and attitudes without autonomy-supportive communication. Implications for improving the effectiveness of anti-bias training in applied settings and research are discussed.