Differing Views of the O. J. Simpson Trial - A Social Identity Perspective

The O. J. Simpson criminal trial was a social event that generated extensivepublic discourse and a search for causes. The dramatic differences of opinionbetween Black and White Americans about the case seemed to reflect broaderdisparities in social perception particularly perceptions of the nature ofracial/ethnic group relations in American society.This project involved the testing of a theoretical model derived from socialidentity and intergroup attribution theory to predict social perceptions associatedwith attitudes about the case. Black and White Americans were surveyedto assess their views of racial/ethnic group stratification the importanceof racial/ethnic group membership to self-identity and perceptions ofthreat from the outgroup. These factors in combination were highly predictiveof the intensity of respondents' beliefs about O. J. Simpson's guilt orinnocence.This work will be of interest to social psychologists sociologists and othersinterested in how ordinary people interpret controversial social events particularlythose that have relevance to current social conflicts.