Effects of Type of Abuse and Affective Expression on Mock Juror Verdicts: Decision Making in the Context of a Female Defendant Charged with Murder.
详细信息
文摘
Few studies that examined mock juror voting behavior have looked at intimate partner violence, defendant affect, and murder. The goal of the present study, in a 2 x 3 randomized design, was to examine the effect of abuse type endured by a defendant and her affective expressions on verdicts of guilt. Participants were 270 adults who responded to a craigslist post about a "criminal justice policy study". In the case presented, a woman experienced verbal, physical, or sexual abuse and then murdered her husband. After participants viewed video testimony, in which she was portrayed as either angry or depressed, they voted on her guilt, the recommended punishment, and rated the confidence they had in their decisions. A main effect of affect expression was predicted. Participants who viewed the angry defendant were expected to render more severe punishment than those who viewed the depressed defendant. A main effect of abuse type was also predicted. A defendant who experienced psychological abuse was expected to receive more severe punishment than one who experienced either physical or sexual abuse. Pre-post assessment of participants self-reported anger was expected to moderate the severity of punishment, and an interaction between the two main independent variables was also predicted. Results did not support the main effects of affective expression, type of abuse, or participants pre-post affective state on verdicts. However, the interaction between abuse type and affective expression was significant. Participants who viewed a physically or sexually abused defendant rendered more severe verdicts when she was portrayed as depressed. When she experienced psychological abuse, participants rendered more severe verdicts when she was angry. This finding runs counter to evolutionary based theories of emotion, which suggest that depression evokes empathy and helping behavior. Future research on the effects of affective expression in varying abuse conditions is recommended.