| |
| author |
Isabella N. Landino
| | title |
Emotions on Trial: The Power of Juror Emotions on Sentencing Decisions
| | abstract |
The purpose of this study was to examine how different types of emotions play a role in
influencing decision making for pre-deliberation jurors in the courtroom. Literature suggests that
jurors' emotions of anger will have a stronger effect on punitiveness than emotions of sadness. It
was thus hypothesized that angry jurors and severely emotional victim impact statements will
result in longer sentencing decisions. Participants (N=176) answered an online questionnaire
where they were randomly assigned to an emotion-inducing film clip (anger, sad, or neutral) and
then required to read either a neutral or severely emotional vignette about a burglary case.
Finally, they were asked to give a sentencing length for the perpetrator in the burglary case, from
either probation to 5 years in prison. Results indicated that the severely emotional vignette had a
significant effect on harsher sentencing decisions. However, the video inductions, while they did
generate some emotions in the jurors, did not impact sentencing lengths. These results suggest
that jurors often are more influenced by the evidence itself and how it is worded, rather than by
the emotions they are feeling before entering the courtroom. Thus, this finding contradicts
previous theories and literature on specific emotions of anger influencing punitiveness more than
sadness, garnering needed future research in this subject.
| | school |
The College of Liberal Arts, Drew University
| | degree |
B.A. (2025)
|
| full text | ILandino.pdf |
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