How does a defendant's physical attractiveness affect jurors' decisions?

Menu Abstract Introduction Method Results Discussion Practical Implications References Appendices RelevantLinks ******** keywords: defendant, attractiveness, jury, courtroom email: AScangas@hotmail.com Return to Senior Theses Psychology Homepage Abstract This study examined the relationship between the attractiveness of defendants, the defendants gender, and the type of crime on jurors verdicts in criminal trial cases. The main difference between this study and previous research is that the participants in this study viewed videotaped testimony, rather than reading about a case and looking at a photograph of the defendant. It has been shown in the literature that the defendants appearance can have great influence on how the jurors perceive him or her. Attractive people are often seen in a better light then unattractive people and may often be treated with more leniencies in verdict decisions and sentencing. However, jurors are often more harsh on attractive people when they use their ...  more