The effect of emotional demeanor of adult sexual assault victim testimonies on mock jurors' verdicts
Date of Award
2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Psychology
Committee Chair
Jeffrey Neuschatz
Committee Member
Nathan Tenhundfeld
Committee Member
Aurora Torres
Research Advisor
Jeffrey Neuschatz
Subject(s)
Jurors--Decision making--Psychological aspects, Witnesses, Affect (Psychology), Psychic trauma, Forensic psychology
Abstract
Experiencing a sexual assault and testifying in trial are both highly emotional events that can influence a witness to display strong negative emotions. The display of emotion is referred to as the emotional demeanor and the present study examined the impact of a victim’s emotional demeanor on jury decision-making. Results revealed a main effect of crying during the direct examination with more guilty verdicts and higher pro-victim ratings (believability, credibility, and trustworthiness). Female participants provided higher pro-victim judgments on believability than male participants. Verdict reasoning demonstrated that participants had an idea of what they expected a rape victim to look like and thought it was normal for them to be shown as crying. These results support the emotional victim effect and the expectancy violation theory when the victim cries during the direct examination.
Recommended Citation
Ahearn, Callie, "The effect of emotional demeanor of adult sexual assault victim testimonies on mock jurors' verdicts" (2024). Theses. 672.
https://louis.uah.edu/uah-theses/672