E2a2 Signall and Ostrove (1975) attractiveness and jury decision making\WHY AND HOW SIGNALL AND OSTROVE CONDUCTED THEIR STUDY, AND WHAT THEY FOUND

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF THE STUDY

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Aim Whether attractiveness affected jury decision making

Whether there was a relationship between attractiveness and the type of crime committed.

They used two crimes of Burgalry and Fraud in the study.

Would an attractive person be more likely to be guilty of committing fraud, or breaking into a house?

Procedure 120 participants were given a piece of card with a crime written on it and a photograph of a woman, known as Barbara Helms.

Split into 6 different groups.

Each group saw either an attractive or unattractive photograph of Barbara and read about a fraud or a burglary that she had committed.

1. Attractive photo of Barbara accused of Burglary2. Unattractive photo of Barbara accused of burglary3. No photo with the burglary case (Control Group)4. Attractive photo of Barbara accused of Fraud5. Unattractive photo of Barbara accused of fraud6. No photo with the Fraud case (Control Group)

Firstly all were asked to rate Barbara on attractiveness before they started to make sure they agreed which one was attractive and unattractive.

Then researchers asked the individual ‘jurors’ in each group to give Barbara a prison sentence ranging from 1 to 15 years.

Results Attractive Photo Unattractive Photo No Photo

Burglary 2.80 5.20 5.10

Fraud 5.45 4.35 4.35

The attractive photo had a big effect on the participants decision. Longer in prison for fraud, less for Burglary.

Attractive people are associated with crimes like Fraud because they use their looks. Victims would see them as trustworthy.

However we do not associate good looking people with burglary as we believe a good looking person could not beak into a flat and steal.

Conclusion It highlights the importance looks have on the jury decision making.

Good looking people do get away with some crimes, but if they have used their looks to commit a crime they are less likely to get away with it.

Strengths The study used good controls. Participants given the same instructions, similar cases to read and a sentence to decide. Meaning there are fewer extraneous variables that could have affected the decision. The findings are reliable and repeatable.

Control group is very useful to see whether the photograph effected decision or not.

Less likely to guess the aim of the study as did not know what the other groups were doing. Demand characteristics.

The study can be used in real life to inform jurors not to base the decision on what the defendant looks like.

Asked to rate the attractiveness of the photo to make sure all agreed the photo shown was one of an attractive person.

Weakness Not realistic as not what a normal juror would experience.

Jurors only decide if a defendant is guilty or not guilty, they do not sentence.

Now Copy down key definitions.

Answer question 1 and 2 in books.