Influences on Individual Juror Decision-Making
The influences on juror decision-making is a widely researched field as social-
scientists seek to find answers to why jurors make the decisions they do. This paper
focuses on the scenario of Michael, a paediatric doctor, charged with the assault of
Darren, unemployed and relying on welfare. The individual juror biases that are
explored are experiential (emotional) versus rational processing (the cognitive
experiential-self theory), and how it can effect juror’s decision making through
narrative delivery, physical and social attractiveness. Attitude and personality traits of
belief in a just world and authoritarianism will also be explored as well as the role of
the media in creating bias.
Lieberman (2002) suggests that the ways in which a juror processes
information may influence their decision-making. The cognitive experiential self-
theory suggests that individuals have two ways of processing information: 1) an
experiential mode, which relies on heuristic cues (cognitive shortcuts) and is an
intuitive, affect-driven system, or, 2) a rational mode, which is conscious, logic-driven
and emotion-free (Epstein, 1994). According to Epstein (1994), the more emotional a
person is feeling, the more they tend to think in a categorical and personal manner,
reverting to stereotypes and schemas – quite different to when they are in a rational
thinking mode, relying less on short-cuts, and more on factual evidence. It is
suggested that this is because individuals instinctively operate on a “gut-level” which
involves very little effort, whereas rational thinking is a learned process and requires a
conscious effort; individuals default to the easy option. Denes-Raj and Epstein (1994)
state that the demands of a situation will determine whether the experiential or
rational mode is used.
Lieberman (2002) believes that the cognitive experiential self-theory may
explain how juror decision-making comes to be influenced by certain factors. It can be of benefit to the defendant and the juror at varying times for the attorney to elicit
emotional