Jury decision-making: the impact of engagement and perceived threat on verdict decisions

Diane Sivasubramaniam; Mallory McGuinness; Darcy Coulter; Bianca Klettke; Mark Nolan; Regina Schuller

doi:10.1080/13218719.2020.1793819

Jury decision-making: the impact of engagement and perceived threat on verdict decisions

Psychiatr Psychol Law. 2020 Sep 10;27(3):346-365. doi: 10.1080/13218719.2020.1793819. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Diane Sivasubramaniam¹, Mallory McGuinness¹, Darcy Coulter², Bianca Klettke³, Mark Nolan⁴, Regina Schuller⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychological Sciences, Swinburne University, Hawthorn, VIC, Australia.
² Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science, Swinburne University, Hawthorn, VIC, Australia.
³ Deakin University, Burwood, VIC, Australia.
⁴ Centre for Law and Justice, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, NSW, Australia.
⁵ Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Abstract

The present study examined the role of political orientation and task engagement in juror decision-making. The study was conducted as a 2 (mode: laboratory versus online) × 2 (role: juror, observer) × 3 (evidence: admissible, inadmissible, control) between-subjects experiment, with participants (N = 157) recruited from a mid-sized Australian university. Findings supported our predictions that political conservatism is associated with convictions, and that university students endorse a wide range of political orientations. Participants who were more engaged in the study perceived more threat in the defendant, and threat, in turn, led to higher conviction rates; furthermore, the effect of participation mode on verdict decisions was completely mediated by perceptions of the threat posed by the defendant. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for jury decision-making research and its relevance to actual juror decisions.

Keywords: engagement; juror decision-making; jury decision-making; political orientation; threat.