Hong Kong University Students’ Normative Beliefs about Aggression toward Police: The Role of Ecological Risks and Future Perspective

Abstract

Ample social protests occurred in Hong Kong during 2019-2020 to achieve various political goals. One of the goals was to require an investigation of police’s excessive and brutal enforcement while handling the protests. University students were actively involved in the protests. Normative beliefs about aggression toward police (NBAGG→P) play an important role in students’ behavior during the protests. In this cross-sectional study, we quantified NBAGG→P among Hong Kong university students (N=1,025) and examined the associations between NBAGG→P and multiple ecological risks (i.e., distrust in institutions, exposure to community violence, poor family monitoring, poor university discipline and affiliation with delinquent peers). Moreover, we examined the protective and buffering role of future orientation. The results showed that about 78.6% students had participated in social protests and about 35.4% of them had engaged in aggressive acts during protests. Students reported medium levels of NBAGG→P, and NBAGG→P was positively related to participation in social protests and use of aggression during protests. Except for poor family monitoring, other ecological risks were related to higher levels of NBAGG→P. Moreover, a positive future orientation was related to lower levels of NBAGG→P. Future orientation moderated the link between distrust in institutions and NBAGG→P. The relation was stronger for students with a more positive future orientation than those with a less positive future orientation. These findings offer insights in understanding young people’s aggressive attitude and promoting positive social participation.