The effect of victim information on causality judgments in a rape trial scenario.

Full Abstract

D. M. Rempala and F. B. Bernieri (2005) showed that in a date-rape trial scenario, increasing the amount of neutral, nondiagnostic information (i.e., information unrelated to the case) about the rape victim decreases the percentage of guilt verdicts. The authors attempted to determine the causal mechanism for this phenomenon. Participants read 1 of 4 rape trial scenarios (which differed only in the amount of non diagnostic information about the defendant and victim), then provided a verdict and rated the targets on several dimensions. The authors replicated pattern of guilt verdicts in the Rempala and Bernieri study (p < .05), and a path analysis indicated that increased victim information altered causality judgments, which then affected guilt verdicts.

Author information

Author/s: Rempala, Daniel M (DM); Geers, Andrew L (AL);

Affiliation: University of Hawaii, Department of Psychology, Honolulu, HI 96822-2216, USA. rempala(-atsign-)hawaii.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: The Journal of social psychology (J Soc Psychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Aug; vol 149 (issue 4) : pp 495-512

Dates: Created 2009/08/25; Completed 2009/09/29;

PMID: 19702107, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 9/29/2009, IMS Date: )

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