1. CLASS 25

2. JURY PSYCHOLOGY

3. Example of Applied Psychology Applying principles of personality and social psychology to an important real-world issue Issues: Obedience & conformity Also group dynamics

4. Obedience as a trait The Authoritarian personality –Doesn’t mean authoritative or bossy –Means an exaggerated respect for authority –Related to conservatism

5. F-scale Measures authoritarianism e.g., Obedience is the most important thing to teach your children Adorno – California 1950 Altemeyer – Manitoba 1980

6. Scientific Jury Selection

7. Began with 1960s Political trials Anti-war activists Psychologists supported the defense Help compensate for government strategies

8. Voir Dire Stage of evaluating potential jurors Court calls up a random sample of potential jury members from the jury pool Each one is interviewed by defense and the prosecution lawyers Both sides must say okay Continues until 12 applicants are accepted

9. How to select applicants favorable to defense Richard Christie suggested several approaches Evolved to keep ahead of prosecution 1.Personality approach 2.Group dynamics approach

10. 1. Personality approach Advice from Richard Christie Just pick low-Fs But prosecution caught on

11. 2. Group Dynamics Approach More complex view of group behavior A group is not just the sum of its parts

12. Theme 1: Leadership the leader of jury is called the foreman (foreperson) elected by jury itself usually chosen on status in the community

13. Strategy Find a low-F / high-status person among the candidates After that, high-Fs are okay Maybe even preferred

14. Theme 2: Law of Similarity & Attraction Well-established psychological phenomenon Similarity -- > attraction

15. Two applications in jury research FIRST " Juries never convict a man that they like. " ……………….Clarence Darrow And jury members tend to like any defendant who is similar to them

16. SECOND Sub-groups of similar individuals tend to form They cluster into cliques Especially when sequestered

17. Defense strategies 1. Pick jury members similar to defendant 2. Pick high-F candidates who are different from each other 3. Pick low-F candidates who are similar to others on the jury

18. Christie's Standard procedure Travel to venue of trial Obtain the jury pool list Do a questionnaire study with 3 parts: –Demographics –Personality items –Punishment items

19. Correlation Analysis: find the best questions demographics personality punitive

20. During the trial…. Christie provided results to the defense lawyers Lawyers asked those questions during jury selection Then turned to Christie

21. e.g., Trial of Arnie Moskowitz activist in Brooklyn, New York Arrested for armed robbery Richard Christie volunteered to help the defense Followed the usual procedure

22. Results Best predictor of punitiveness: –Obedience is the most important virtue to teach your children Also other items from the F-scale BUT judge ruled out personality questions

23. Best demographics 1. Education (at least some college) 2. Newspaper (New York Times vs. tabloid) 3. Non-religious (never attend church) 4. Etc Basically -- conservatism vs. liberalism

24. The verdict ACQUIT Altogether, Christie successful on 9/10 cases

25. The "Squamish Five“ Trial Local extreme activists (during 1970s) Don't like it -- Blow it up Both sides brought in teams Took 2 months to select the jury CONVICTED

26. Later Developments in Jury Selection Judges are now wary Fewer political trials Except big-business trials

27. e.g., book and movie Runaway Jury Cigarette & firearms companies

28. O.J. Simpson trial Non-political But jury selection mattered Trial 1: INNOCENT Trial 2: GUILTY

29. Is Scientific Jury Selection a good thing? –PROS Helps to remove biased jurors Consistent with adversary system –CONS gives more advantage to the wealthy selection process can go on forever