Research Description

Juror Decision Making in a Case of Assault

Even though researchers have devoted a lot of scholarship to modern racism and jury decision-making, there has been little to no research that has addressed decision making concerning defendants who are any race or ethnicity other than Black or White. Thus, my research question examines whether jurors make different decisions for White, Black, and Hispanic defendants when race is made salient (when it was stated specifically that the defendant was Black or White) compared to when race is not salient in the case. Additionally, I am examining whether the strength of the evidence has an effect on jurors’ decisions for White, Black, and Hispanic defendants.

To study the effects of ambiguity and race saliency on jurors’ decisions, I hope to use two populations. One population will be through a student participant pool for class credit. The other population will be community members who show up for jury duty. This group of participants more accurately represents the population likely to be found in a jury, and using community members would increase the generalizability of the study. Furthermore, by including a student sample as well, we can assess differences between these two populations.

In the study, participants will be provided with written trial summaries (based on an actual case) with defendant race (Hispanic vs. Black vs. White), race saliency (salient vs. not salient), and strength of evidence (strong vs. weak vs. ambiguous) manipulated. Participants will then render a verdict and answer several questions about their perceptions of the evidence and trial players.

Aversive racism is usually so subtle that it often goes unnoticed. Shining a light on this hidden, yet detrimental form of racism that may have an effect in jurors’ decisions could help combat the effects of racism.