Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 13, 2025
09:49
Holistic Facial Composite Creation and Subsequent Video Line-up Eyewitness Identification Paradigm
Published on: December 24, 2015
14.2K
Moral foundations and juror verdict justifications.
Susan Yamamoto1, Evelyn M Maeder1, Lin Bailey1
1Carleton University.
The Journal of Social Psychology
|January 22, 2023
Summary
Mock jurors explained murder verdicts using moral language, particularly focusing on harm. This study analyzed how legal justifications connect to moral foundations theory.
Area of Science:
- Legal Psychology
- Moral Psychology
Background:
- Understanding jury decision-making is crucial for legal system fairness.
- Moral Foundations Theory offers a framework for analyzing ethical reasoning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how mock jurors utilize moral foundations language when justifying verdict decisions.
- To explore the connection between moral reasoning and legal judgments in a criminal trial context.
Main Methods:
- Participants reviewed a second-degree murder trial transcript with an automatism defense.
- Verdict rationales were qualitatively coded for Moral Foundations (MF) Dictionary terms.
- Analysis focused on language used in justifications for guilty or not guilty verdicts.
Main Results:
- Mock jurors predominantly used harm-related language when justifying murder verdicts.
- Qualitative analysis revealed distinct patterns in the content of juror justifications.
- The study identified specific moral language associated with legal decision-making.
Conclusions:
- Juror justifications for murder verdicts are significantly influenced by harm-based moral reasoning.
- Moral Foundations Theory provides valuable insights into the language of legal judgments.
- Further research can explore the nuances of moral language in diverse legal contexts.
Related Concept Videos
01:19Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development
110
Kohlberg's theory of moral development uses the Heinz dilemma — a thought experiment in which a man, Heinz, must decide whether to steal an unaffordable drug to save his dying wife — to illustrate the evolution of moral reasoning. This framework, divided into three levels with two stages, highlights how individuals' understanding of right and wrong becomes increasingly complex.
Pre-Conventional Level
At the pre-conventional level, morality is primarily driven by personal...
Pre-Conventional Level
At the pre-conventional level, morality is primarily driven by personal...
110
01:22Ethics and Bioethics
1.5K
Ethics is a philosophical study of moral actions. Ethics attempts to determine what is valuable for individuals and society. It examines the rational justification of moral judgments and analyzes what is morally just, fair, and right. Bioethics is a sub-discipline of applied ethics that analyzes the philosophical, social, and legal issues in life sciences and medicine. Ethical theories serve as a foundation for decision-making and represent the viewpoints from which people seek direction. They...
1.5K
01:14Fundamental Attribution Error
12.9K
According to some social psychologists, people tend to overemphasize internal factors as explanations—or attributions—for the behavior of other people. They tend to assume that the behavior of another person is a trait of that person, and to underestimate the power of the situation on the behavior of others. They tend to fail to recognize when the behavior of another is due to situational variables, and thus to the person’s state. This erroneous assumption is...
12.9K
00:56Attribution Theory
13.1K
Behavior is a product of both the situation (e.g., cultural influences, social roles, and the presence of bystanders) and of the person (e.g., personality characteristics). Subfields of psychology tend to focus on one influence or behavior over others. Situationism is the view that our behavior and actions are determined by our immediate environment and surroundings. In contrast, dispositionism holds that our behavior is determined by internal factors (Heider, 1958).
13.1K
01:31Confirmation Biases
5.6K
The confirmation bias is the tendency to focus on information that confirms our existing beliefs and ignore information that is inconsistent with our expectations. For example, if you think that your professor is not very nice, you notice all of the instances of rude behavior exhibited by the professor while ignoring the countless pleasant interactions he is involved in on a daily basis. Have you ever fallen prey to the confirmation bias, either as the source or target of such bias?
5.6K
01:20Lazarus's Cognitive Appraisal Theory
386
Cognitive psychologist Richard Lazarus proposed the cognitive-mediational theory of emotions, which emphasizes how individuals' assessments of stressors significantly affect their experience of stress. According to Lazarus, the stress response is determined by a two-step appraisal process: primary appraisal and secondary appraisal. These cognitive appraisals help individuals evaluate the potential impact of a stressor and determine the adequacy of their coping resources.
Primary Appraisal:...
Primary Appraisal:...
386