Bais in the Courtroom The Effects of Attorney attractiveness and Gender on Juror Decisions

Keytin Palmer

Date of Award

2011

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Graham, Steven

Keywords

Physical Attractiveness Bias, Law, Gender

Area of Concentration

Psychology

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to investigate how attorney physical attractiveness and gender can bias juror decisions in an automobile accident trial. Participants (15 male, 45 female) were presented with a picture of an unattractive or attractive male or female attorney before reading a trial summary and a transcript of the attorney�s closing statement. Participants then rated the attorney�s persuasiveness, credibility, likability, trustworthiness, and knowledgeability; reported how guilty they deemed the defendant; and suggested an amount of money to be awarded to the plaintiff for damages if a jury found in his favor. Results showed that female attorneys were rated as more credible than males. Participants awarded more damages money to clients represented by female lawyers than to clients represented by male lawyers. In addition, clients represented by unattractive lawyers were awarded more money than clients represented by attractive lawyers. Results suggest that attorney physical attractiveness and gender affect juror decisions in automobile accident trials

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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