Gender differences in jury deliberation?
Student research may inform jury selection
Kate Lee
Issue date: 4/27/09 Section: Pulse
Media Credit: PoliticalCartel.comVargas' research has implications on the gender composition of future jury selection.
The Student Research Forum is held every spring. Graduate and undergraduate students involved in research are encouraged to submit their abstracts and present their work. This year's forum included research from humanities to engineering and everything in between. Fifth-year applied psychology and biology double-major Maria Vargas was one of the participants of this year's forum.
Vargas's project examined the gender differences in jury deliberation. She is an undergraduate research assistant for Dr. Bette Bottoms, interim vice provost for Undergraduate Affairs and dean of the Honors College. Vargas studied the gender differences during jury deliberation when jurors were asked to distinguish between high- and low-quality scientific expert testimony. Deliberation involved jurors discussing evidence among themselves.
In her study, Vargas had 126 undergraduate students listen to two conflicting "expert" witnesses differing only in their scientific quality. These undergraduate "jurors" then deliberated in six gender-mixed groups. Two coders counted the number of comments made by each juror. "The aim of these studies is to provide explanations for behavior based on laboratory research," said Vargas.
Vargas concentrated on jury gender composition. She stated that because the results depend on gender composition, "the more men there are on the jury, the less important this individual difference is." Results showed that men did participate more than women by making more comments during deliberation. When jurors required a higher need for cognition (NFC), meaning that jurors needed more time to process information, there were more comments made overall.
Vargas clarified this finding by saying that "jurors that enjoy thinking and spend a lot of time doing it (high in need for cognition) are more likely to participate during deliberation than jurors who don't enjoy thinking (low in need for cognition)."
Furthermore, Vargas mentioned that jurors with a high need for cognition enjoy mental activities. "Jurors who like to think will say 'I like to solve puzzles; I wish my life was full of math problems that I could solve.'"
Vargas concluded that the greater proportion of comments men made could not only be attributed to women being reticent to participate. She suggested that having more men on the jury would increase competition between other men.
"When there are a high number of men on the jury, there is more competition to participate and so jurors who are high in need for cognition will tend to participate similar to that are low in need for cognition," Vargas added.
Vargas has had the opportunity to publish one of her other research projects. Although this present study has not yet been accepted for publication, "research like this helps inform public policy and has implications for jury selection," she said. "They attempt to replicate the 'real world.'"
There are might be many instances in which the outcome of a trial is somewhat dependent on who the jurors are. Vargas's research implies that gender differences influence the justice system as much as the evidence presented in court.
|
Vargas's project examined the gender differences in jury deliberation. She is an undergraduate research assistant for Dr. Bette Bottoms, interim vice provost for Undergraduate Affairs and dean of the Honors College. Vargas studied the gender differences during jury deliberation when jurors were asked to distinguish between high- and low-quality scientific expert testimony. Deliberation involved jurors discussing evidence among themselves.
In her study, Vargas had 126 undergraduate students listen to two conflicting "expert" witnesses differing only in their scientific quality. These undergraduate "jurors" then deliberated in six gender-mixed groups. Two coders counted the number of comments made by each juror. "The aim of these studies is to provide explanations for behavior based on laboratory research," said Vargas.
Vargas concentrated on jury gender composition. She stated that because the results depend on gender composition, "the more men there are on the jury, the less important this individual difference is." Results showed that men did participate more than women by making more comments during deliberation. When jurors required a higher need for cognition (NFC), meaning that jurors needed more time to process information, there were more comments made overall.
Vargas clarified this finding by saying that "jurors that enjoy thinking and spend a lot of time doing it (high in need for cognition) are more likely to participate during deliberation than jurors who don't enjoy thinking (low in need for cognition)."
Furthermore, Vargas mentioned that jurors with a high need for cognition enjoy mental activities. "Jurors who like to think will say 'I like to solve puzzles; I wish my life was full of math problems that I could solve.'"
Vargas concluded that the greater proportion of comments men made could not only be attributed to women being reticent to participate. She suggested that having more men on the jury would increase competition between other men.
"When there are a high number of men on the jury, there is more competition to participate and so jurors who are high in need for cognition will tend to participate similar to that are low in need for cognition," Vargas added.
Vargas has had the opportunity to publish one of her other research projects. Although this present study has not yet been accepted for publication, "research like this helps inform public policy and has implications for jury selection," she said. "They attempt to replicate the 'real world.'"
There are might be many instances in which the outcome of a trial is somewhat dependent on who the jurors are. Vargas's research implies that gender differences influence the justice system as much as the evidence presented in court.
Be the first to comment on this story