The Emotional Child Witness: Effects on Juror Decision-making
The Emotional Child Witness: Effects on Juror Decision-making
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DOI：
10.1002/bsl.2153
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发表时间：
2014-11-01
影响因子：
1.4
通讯作者：
Cleveland, Kyndra C.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Cooper, Alexia;Quas, Jodi A.;Cleveland, Kyndra C.
尽管儿童证人在出庭作证时的行为差异很大，但很少有研究关注这种行为如何影响陪审员对儿童可信度或案件本身的看法。在目前的研究中，一个孩子的情感表现对可信度的判断和裁决偏好的影响进行了研究，在陪审团合格的大学生和陪审员从陪审团义务释放。当参与者阅读儿童证词的记录时，基于儿童是否被显示为哭泣或不哭的看法或判决没有显着差异。然而，那些认为孩子更情绪化的参与者（无论图像是否显示一个哭泣的孩子）更有可能做出有罪判决，更确定有罪，并且发现孩子更可信，而被告比那些认为孩子不那么情绪化的参与者更不可信。此外，当孩子被认为情绪低落时，年龄较大的孩子被认为比年龄较小的孩子更不可信。这些结果对于理解儿童的情感表现和陪审员对儿童情感的看法如何影响性虐待案件的判决具有重要意义。版权所有（c）2014约翰威利父子有限公司
Despite wide variations in child witness behavior while on the stand, little research has focused on how that behavior influences jurors' perceptions of the child's credibility or the case itself. In the current study, the impact of a child's emotional displays on credibility judgments and verdict preferences was examined in jury-eligible college students and jurors released from jury duty. No significant differences emerged in perceptions or verdicts based on whether a child was shown as crying or not while participants read a transcript of the child's testimony. However, participants who rated the child as more emotional (regardless of whether the image showed a crying child) were more likely to render guilty verdicts, were more certain of guilt, and found the child more credible and the defendant less credible than participants who rated the child as less emotional. Also, when the child was perceived as low in emotion, older children were rated as less credible than younger children. The results have implications for understanding how children's emotional displays and jurors' perceptions of children's emotionality influence decisions in sexual abuse cases. Copyright (c) 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.