The Impact of Expert Testimony on Jurors’ Decisions: Gender of the Expert and Testimony Complexity
(2005) The Impact of Expert Testimony on Jurors’ Decisions: Gender of the Expert and Testimony Complexity. Journal of Applied Social Psychology 35(6):pp. 1266-1280.
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Abstract
The present study investigated whether people used the gender of an expert witness as a heuristic cue to evaluate the evidence presented by the expert. Specifically, the gender of the expert, as well as the complexity of the expert’s testimony (low, high), were systematically varied within a simulated civil trial involving an antitrust price fixing agreement. It was expected that the male expert would be more persuasive than the female expert, but only when the testimony presented was complex. As predicted, this interaction was revealed across a range of the dependent measures. Somewhat unexpected was the finding of a female expert advantage in the low complexity condition. The implications of these findings are discussed.
| Item Type: | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Status: | Published |
| Keywords: | expert testimony, expert witnesses, language complexity, mode of information processing, stereotypes, schemas, jurors, gender. |
| Subjects: | 390000 Law, Justice and Law Enforcement > 390100 Law > 390199 Law not elsewhere classified 380000 Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences > 380100 Psychology > 380105 Social and Community Psychology |
| ID Code: | 1639 |
| Deposited By: | McKimmie, Blake |
| Deposited On: | 11 October 2005 |
| Alternative Locations: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2005.tb02170.x |
| Copyright Owner: | Copyright 2005 Blackwell Publishing |
| Copyright Statement: | The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.com |
| Additional Information: | For more information, please refer to the journal's website (see hypertext link) or contact the author. |